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UNIVERSITY  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 
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jRanrnraa  ifrwltrg  iff  arm 


Written  by  Its  Founder 
JOEL  M.  FOSTER 


BROWNS    MILLSIN-THE-PINES,  N.J 


COPYRIGHT,    1910,    BY    INTERNATIONAL  POULTRY   SALES    COMPANY 
ALL  RIGHTS   RESERVED 


JOEL  M.  FOSTER 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


AUTHOR'S  NOTE 


N  THE  following  pages  I  give  you  the  record 
of  an  actual  experience;  there  is  not  a 
guess,  a  dream,  or  a  touch  of  fiction  from 
the  first  sentence  to  the  last — it  is  fact, 
plain  unvarnished  fact. 

If  asked  why  I  have  written  the  book 
I  may  give  several  answers. 

First:     When  a   man   has  achieved  a 
marked  success  contrary  to  general  expec- 
tation he  has  a  pardonable  pride  in  wishing 
the  public  to  know  the  facts. 

Second:  When  he  is  convinced  that  multitudes  of  men 
now  subsisting  precariously  on  low  wages  may  repeat  his  suc- 
cess on  similar  or  smaller  proportions  it  is  not  a  very  high  order 
of  benevolence  that  leads  him  to  point  out  the  way. 

Third:  As  he  realizes  that  the  instinct  leading  thousands 
of  people  "  back  to  the  land"  and  to  the  resources  of  nature  is 
liable  to  grave  mistakes  and  bitter  disappointments,  par- 
ticularly when  much  of  the  guidance  offered  is  based  upon 
untested  theories  and  guesses,  he  feels  that  he  is  only  acting  in 
the  interests  of  common  humanity  in  furnishing  the  absolutely 
reliable  information  which  his  own  experience  has  supplied. 

Fourth  :  Political  economy  teaches  that  the  well-being  of 
the  nation  rests  primarily  upon  the  products  of  the  soil  and 
that  unless  all  forms  of  farming  are  placed  upon  a  scientific 
basis  we  are  surely  courting  a  widespread  and  terrible  dis- 
aster. This  I  also  believe;  and  having  demonstrated  that 
poultry  farming  by  scientific  and  business-like  methods  may 
be  made  profitable  to  the  investor  as  well  as  a  contribution  to 


34668 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


the  common  good,  I  hold  it  to  be  my  duty  to  tell  honestly  and 
clearly  all  I  know  on  the  subject. 

It  is  therefore  my  sincere  hope  that  the  story  of  the  Ran- 
cocas  Poultry  Farm  may  furnish  courage  and  guidance  to  the 
many  who  are  seeking  light  on  the  subject  treated.  Perhaps 
it  may  be  well  to  say  that  the  recent  development  of  my  per- 
sonal venture  into  an  incorporated  company  does  not  in  any 
way  affect  the  facts  recorded  in  the  book.  The  amazing  suc- 
cess of  my  individual  experiment  suggested  the  step.  Any 
man,  by  natural  progression,  can  go  as  far  and  much  further 
than  I  have  gone  without  drawing  upon  any  other  resources 
than  his  own  and  the  annual  increment  of  his  stock  and  equip- 
ment. Having  withheld  no  principle  or  essential  detail  in 
telling  my  story,  I  am  confident  that  any  one  with  intelligence, 
perseverance,  care,  and  capacity  for  work  can  realize  the 
measure  of  success  for  which  he  plans. 


Yours  sincerely, 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


FOREWORD 


HE  success  of  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  is 
attracting  national  attention.  A  farm  that 
produces  1,000,000  eggs  a  year  from  an 
investment  of  $100,000  and  earns  19  per 
cent,  profit  is  worthy  of  consideration. 

There  is  nothing  of  mystery  or  miracle 
about  it.  In  the  first  place  there  was  the 
simple  idea,  common  to  almost  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  in  the  United  States, 
that  "There's  money  in  chickens."     It  is, 

in    the    last    resort,    the    knowledge,    the     „__.. 

common  sense,  the  concentration,  the  gray 

matter  in  the  skull,  the  energy — in  short,  ,, 

the    personality   of    the   man    behind    the 

hen,  that  makes  her  a  mint,  turning  grain  and  water  into 

eggs,  and  eggs  into  profit. 

It  is  not  inspiration,   but  perspiration,   that  counts.     No 

one  can  hope  to  succeed  in  the  chicken  business  without  work. 
It  is  obvious  that  the  success  of  a  poultry  farm,  be  it  large 

or  small,  should  carry  valuable  knowledge  to  those  who  are 

wise    enough   to    profit    by  the  lessons    of 

its     experiments     and     experiences.      The 

man  who  feels  the  hen  fever  in  his  veins  .  _ .  , 

•     •  a  x.  ,,  and  Old 

is  m  a  good  way   to   acquire  the   science 

and  art  of  poultry  production.  And  if  he  is  willing  to  study 
the  experiences  of  others  he  can  succeed  quickly.  The  success- 
ful chicken  farmer  is  an  enthusiast;  he  imparts  his  spirit  to 
others  and  infects  his  coworkers  with  a  healthy  form  of 
chicken  pox.     It  is   easy  to  learn  from  him,  to  work  with, 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


him,  and  to  turn  his  hopes  and  plans  into  realities — dividend- 
paying  actualities. 

This  description  of  the  MILLION  EGG  FARM  will  be, 
therefore,  of  dollars  and  cents  value  to  the  man  already  in 
the  business  as  well  as  to  the  beginner;  giving  the  one  a 
knowledge  of  scientific  principles  and  the  other  a  help  to 
discriminate  between  wise  and  foolish  methods. 

Many  poultry  and  egg  farms  have  been  described  in  print 
during  the   last  decade,  but,  unfortunately,  the   statements 
and  claims  relative  to  methods  and  profits 
g     published  in  these  books  are  usually  unsub- 
stantiated and  often  misleading  to  all  except 
the  most  critical  or  experienced  poultry  men.     The  valuable 
knowledge  so  eagerly  sought  for  by  the  thousands  interested 
in  profitable  poultry  culture  is  also  lacking  in  these  books. 

It  is  the  object  of  the  MILLION  EGG  FARM  book  to  give 

unadorned,  verified,  and  complete  facts  about  the  Rancocas 

Poultry  Farm.     No  attempt  is  made  to  tell 

^u.     ,  of  practices  other  than  those  tested  upon 

this    Farm.      It    describes    as    briefly    as 

possible  what  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  has  done,  what  it 

is  doing — and  why  and  how.     There  are  no  secrets  withheld 

and  no  mere  theories  advanced — just  the  plain,   profitable 

processes  evolved  from  years  of  study  and   experiment  in  the 

poultry  business. 

The  products  of  a  poultry  farm  are  in  so  great  demand 
that  there  can  be  among  producers  no  competition  worthy  of 

Cthe  term.     The  competition  is  that  of  the 
consumers ;  namely,  to  get  the  best  chickens 
m  and  eggs.     If  conditions  were  likely  to  be 

Competitors     reversed>   the   international   Poultry  Sales 

Company  would  be  short  sighted  in  publishing  this  book. 
Several  volumes  of  this  size  could  be  filled  with  description 
and  pictures  relating  to  the  plant  and  to  general  egg  farming, 
without  exhausting  the  subject.  The  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm 
is  still  in  the  days  of  its  youth  and  the  record  of  its  origin  and 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


successful  growth  is  a  prophecy  of  its  future.  The  20,000 
layers  on  the  Farm  will  be  increased  to  30,000,  and  there 
is  no  reason  why  this  system  could  not  be  extended  indefinitely. 
Without  reservation  I  tell  herein  how  I  made  my  first 
attempt    to     deal    with  poultry    and    lost 

Tilt* 

money;  how  and  why  I  chose  the  present 

location,  and   general   egg  farming  for  my 

specialty;  and  why  the  single-comb  white 

Leghorn  breed  of  fowls  is   used,  together  with   the  methods 

of  selection  and  mating. 

Details  of  the  now  famous  "Rancocas  Unit"  laying  houses 
and  the  care  of  feeding  the  laying  hens  are  given  elaborately. 
The  simplicity  and  success  of  these  operations  are  the  admi- 
ration of  the  poultry  world.  This  is  the  vital  department 
of  the  plant,  for  from  it  comes  the  eggs.  If  it  is  operated 
wisely,  eggs  are  produced  at  a  cost  below  market  prices  and 
at  a  time  when  prices  are  highest.  For  the  highest  profit 
there  must  be  rapid  maturity  of  pullets,  quick  and  early 
molting  of  hens,  and  high-pressure  feeding  for  eggs.  The 
hen  that  lays  all  her  eggs  in  3  years  gives  $5  more  profit 
than  the  hen  that  takes  5  years  to  do  her  life's  work. 

There  is  no  single  grain  that  contains  all  the  necessary  food 

elements  in  the  right  proportion,  so  the  hen  must  be  given  a 

balanced  ration.     The   Israelites  rebelled  when  required  to 

make  bricks  without   straw,  and  the  hen     rri_ 

'      ,  Ihe 

refuses    to   lay   eggs    without    the    proper     |>    i  j 

nourishment.       Any  one    can    get  eggs   in     n    .. 

warm  weather,  just  as  any  one  can  get  ice 

in  freezing  weather.    To  reverse  the  process,  doing  something 

every  one  does  not  do,  brings  the  largest  and  surest  profit. 

The  incubator  basement,  the  largest  in  the  world,  and  the 
brooder  systems  are  described  and  illustrated  alike  in  their 
arrangement  and  operation.  These  two  departments  of  the 
Farm  are  scarcely  less  vital  to  its  welfare  than  the  laying 
department  just  mentioned,  for  they  renew  and  improve  the 
stock-in-trade  of  the  Farm. 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


Poor    conditions    and    careless    operations    would    bring 

disaster  with  lightning-like  speed. 

The  advice  to  beginners  able  to  invest   limited  sums  of 

a  j    ,          .        money    in     the     chicken     business,     was 
Advice  to  J 

B,.  worked  out  carefully  and   particularly  for 

eginners  .  J  r  J 

this  volume.  It  is  based  on  the  experi- 
ence and  growth  of  the  Rancocas  Farm,  and  not  upon 
theories. 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


CHAPTER  I 

Early  Experiences  of  Joel  M.  Foster, 
Founder  and  President 


T  IS  fitting  to  include  in  the  descriptive 
history  of  any  business  an  outline  of  the 
experiences  undergone  by  the  man  respon- 
sible for  its  development.  Knowledge  born 
of  experience,  together  My  Start 
with  aptness,  constitute 
the  chief  equipment  of  "The  man  behind 
the  hen"  on  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm. 
Ability  for  large  undertakings,  combined 
with  the  "chicken  instinct,"  make  pos- 
sible a  poultry  farm  as   successful  as  the  Rancocas. 

Starting  in  the  poultry  business,  at  Mt.  Royal,  N.  J.,  I 
rented  for  $300  a  year  a  chicken  farm  that  had  been  abandoned 
as  a  failure.     This  was  in  March,  1904. 

I  was  not  actuated  by  the  idea  of  improving  my  health 
(the  commonly  ascribed  motive),  but  solely  by  a  desire  to 
earn  a  good  living  in  the  line  of  employment  most  congenial 
to  me.  From  the  view-point  of  health,  however,  it  may  be 
here  stated  that  poultry  raising  is  one  of  the  most  beneficial 
forms  of  employment.  Nothing  is  more  healthful  and 
exhilarating  than  outdoor  life,  moderate  exercise,  and 
enthusiasm  in  a  given  work.  Poultry  farming  affords  these 
in  abundance  to  its  successful  followers. 

The  beginning  at  Mt.  Royal  was  made  with  100  adult 
chickens.     The   farm   was   equipped   with   a   brooder   house 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


100  feet  long,  and  two  laying  houses  divided  into  pens, 
each  75  feet  in  length.  To  grow  and  profitably  market 
broilers  and  capons  was  the  prime  object  of  this  under- 
taking. A  promising  market  was  quite  accessible  to 
the  farm. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  season  4,000  birds  had  been  marketed 

l~l  at   a  money  loss   of    $680.      But   against 

If       j      j     this  must   be  credited  the  household  and 

p,  .    .  ,     personal     expenses     of     my     family     and 

Mt    H         1     n^yself.     No   money   was    paid   in    wages, 

for   no    help    was    hired,    as    I    was    away 

from  the  farm  only  a  few  hours  during  the  entire  year. 

Although  a  little  daunted  by  the  meagre  profits,  I  did  not 
abandon  the  effort  to  raise  broilers  and  capons.  By  January 
the  twenty-sixth,  of  the  next  year,  I  had  1,400  birds  in  the 
brooder    house   when    the   structure    and    its   contents  went 

»  ||  up   in    flames.     Three  weeks   later   a   new 

All  up  in    , F     .  ,■-,-,,, 

c        i         brooder  house  was  completed  and  by  the 

first  of  March  was  stocked  with  chickens. 
Taking  a  new  grip  upon  the  situation,  I  determined  to  force 
the  season  to  a  profitable  conclusion;  but  Fate  again  inter- 
fered. 

I  awoke  one  morning  to  discover  that  more  than  700  of  the 
birds  were  dead.  The  cause  was  "rats,  "  the  farm  being  near 
the  wharf,  an  infested  manure-disposal  place.  The  remain- 
ing chicks  were  carried  into  the  dwelling  house  and  placed  in 
the  kitchen,  the  sitting  room,  and  even  the  parlor,  there  to 
remain  until  a  cement  floor  could  be  laid  in  the  brooder  house. 
As  may  be  surmised,  the  second  season  closed  with  a  heavy 
financial  loss. 

Again  the  situation  was  scrutinized,  this  time  in  the  light 

of  two  years  of  sad  experience.     The  result  of  taking  thought 

C    a'    A     was  a  res°lution  to  abandon  the   poultry 

*47.  business  unless  it  afforded  something  more 

YY  IS© 

profitable  than  raising  broilers.  I  therefore 
packed   my  grip  and   spent  several  weeks  among  the  most 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


successful  chicken  farms  in  the  eastern  United  States,  study- 
ing the  experiences  of  others  and  the  general  possibilities 
of  the  business. 

The  one  outstanding,  unmistakable  fact  which  I  learned 
was  that  the  profitable  poultry  plants  were  concentrating 
upon  the  egg -producing  branch  of  poultry  farming.  I 
returned  home  determined  to  make  that  my  specialty. 

I  had  then  to  face  the  problems  of  how  to  start  anew,  what 
breed  of  fowls  to  cultivate,  and  where  to  locate.  The  fol- 
lowing pages  tell  how  these  difficulties  have  been  overcome 
and  a  tremendous  success  achieved. 


n 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


CHAPTER  II 

Single-Comb  White  Leghorns  and 
the  Rancocas  Strain 


ROWN'S    MILLS  In-the-Pines,    N.  J.,    was 
selected  as  the  most  desirable  site  for  my 
second  experiment,  because  of  its  accessi- 
bility to  the  large  food     pic]^ing 
markets  and  because  of         Site 
its  soil  and  climatic  ad- 
vantages.    It  is  located  on  the  Amboy  Divi- 
sion of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  one  hour 
from   Philadelphia,   and  three   hours  from 
New  York,  in  which  two  cities  the  highest 
prices  are  paid  for  fresh  eggs. 

The  farm  occupies  valuable  land  touching  on  either  side 
upon  much-traveled  roads,  and  is  but  ten  minutes  walk 
from   the   railroad    station. 

The  tract  first  purchased  embraced  about  140  acres; 
110  acres  of  adjoining  land  have  since  been  bought,  and  a 
temporary  lease  made  for  an  additional  35  acres  and 
several   buildings   nearby. 

It  may  be  said  at  this  point,  in  anticipation  of  a  lengthier 
description  to  follow,  that  there  are  thirty-six  laying  houses 
on  the  farm,  containing  20,000  single-comb  white  Leghorn 
chickens. 

If  these  houses  were  placed  end  to  end  they  would  make 
a  building  nearly  two-thirds  of  a  mile  long. 


L3 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


The  incubator  basement  under  the  executive  building  is 

furnished  with  250  machines  that   have  a     rp,       ^      ,  ,, 

combined   capacity  of    over    100,000    eggs     j        ,      . 

every  21  days.     This  is  the  largest  incuba-  ¥         , 

J        .      .       ,  .  -  Incubator 

tor  capacity  in  the  world.  ^  .. 

r  Capacity 

The   hot-water-heated  brooder  house  is 

360  feet  in  length  and  mothers  at  one  time  20,000  chicks. 
Beside  this  brooder  house  there  is  still  another  and  larger 
brooding  system  which  cares  for  30,000  additional  chicks. 

It  requires  three  miles  of  underground  piping  to  carry  water 
to  the  flocks  of  chickens  and  there  are  60,000  square  feet  of 
concrete  flooring  in  the   laying  houses  alone.     The   runs,  or 
yards,  are  enclosed  with  wire  netting  to  the  extent  of  six  miles. 
Hundreds  of  tons  of  feed  and  thousands  of  egg  crates  are  used 
annually.     The  output  more  than  justifies  such  an  elaborate 
equipment.     500,000  market   eggs,    59,380     ryi       r\    f      * 
day-old  chicks,  92,210  hatching  eggs,  5,000        e  iqrkq 
broilers,   besides   pullets,  cockerels,    fancy 
stock,  etc.  were  sold  during  the  season  of  1909  from  7,000  lay- 
ers.    Every   separate   product   is   guaranteed   to   be    of   the 
highest  quality. 

Beside  the  land  and  buildings  occupied  by  poultry  there 
are  sixty  acres  of  ground  under  cultivation,  upon  which  is 
grown  such  necessary  green  food  as  clover,  mangel-wurzels, 
and  rutabagas. 

We  now  come  to  a  main  feature  of  the  farm's  equipment. 

It  is  stocked  exclusively  with  single-comb  white  Leghorn 

chickens.       To  this  fact  alone  is  due  much     Ti       c.     .i 

of  the  farm  s  success,   as  the  white   Leg-     g-^        i    \a/u-^ 
1     1         1  1  -,      Comb  White 

horn  is  the  best  laying  hen  yet  developed.     »      ,i 

If  any  other  breed  of  fowl  were  more  prof- 
itable for    egg  producing    it  would  immediately  replace  the 
Leghorn.      It    is    not    sentimental    preference,  but    the    net 
yield  of  money  per  hen  that  counts. 

To  keep  two  breeds  of  fowls  for  eggs,  supposing  there  was 
another  breed  almost  as  good  in  every  way,  would  necessitate 


16 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


two  standards  of  management,  entail  greater  expense  in  oper- 
ation, and  cause  confusion  in  the  quality  of  eggs  produced. 

The  Leghorn  fowl  is  classed  as  Mediterranean  in  opposition 
to  the  Asiatic  and  American  varieties.     It  is  one  of  the  first 
breeds  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge  and  is  supposed  to 
have    originated    in     Italy.       Besides    the      »  p        • 
single-comb  white   Leghorn  fowl,  there  are     p^  f 
black,  brown,  and   buff   Leghorns,  smaller 
in  size.     But  the  white  Leghorn  has  proved  in  many  con- 
tests that  it  is  naturally  superior  to  all  other  breeds  in  pro- 
ducing eggs  profitably.     Eighty  per  cent,  of  the  large    com- 
mercial poultry  farms  in  the   United  States  are   stocked  with 
single-comb   white  Leghorn  hens. 

This  fowl  easily  adapts  itself  to  changes  of  climate  and  sur- 
roundings, prospering  alike  in  confinement  or  on  free  range. 
The  quantity  of  food  required  to  keep  three  Leghorn  fowls 
would  only  be  enough  for  two  of  the  Asiatic  or  American 
breeds,  for  the  cost  of  feeding  is  in  proportion  to  the  weight. 
Not  only  is  the  white  Leghorn  of  the  most  prolific  egg  type, 
but  it  is  beautiful  in  appearance.  It  has  a  rather  long  head; 
prominent  and  jewel-like  eyes;  a  strong,  golden-yellow  beak, 
nicely  curved;  and  large,  brilliant  red  wattles  and  comb.  Its 
back  is  long  and  graceful.  The  tail  is  car-  *,  pi  „-r„i 
ried  at  an  angle  of  thirty  degrees.  The  r>  ± 
body  is  prominent  at  the  breast  and  wide 
between  the  thighs,  providing  ample  room  for  the  digestive 
and  egg  organs.  In  demeanor  it  is  alert  and  buoyant;  in 
movements,  light  and  swift.  It  is  quick  to  mature,  produces 
white-shelled  eggs,  and  is  a  non-setter.  From  an  artistic 
point  of  view,  the  snow-white  plumage  and  red  combs  of  a 
flock  of  these  chickens  in  the  dappled  sunshine  of  the  pines 
make  a  superb  scene.  The  beauty,  symmetry,  and  shapeli- 
ness of  the  birds  as  individuals  and  in  the  mass,  charm  and 
delight  the  beholder.  All  these  qualities  are  evidence  that 
the  Rancocas  Leghorn  is  healthful,  sturdy,  and  prolific— an 
animal  machine  built  to  lay  eggs. 


17 


18 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


By  the  practical  poultry  man  there  is  nothing  more  eagerly 
sought  than  a  continuous  egg-laying  strain.  Production  through 
three  or  four  years  gives  fair  proof  that  a  certain  hen  has  vital- 
ity, needing  only  reasonable  care  to  be  kept  in  good  health. 

The  Rancocas  strain  of  Leghorns  comes  from  cultivating 
intensely,  through  many  generations,  the  inherent  tendencies 
of  the  breed.  There  is  a  great  difference  between  families  of 
the  same  breed.  In  crossing  this  strain  I  started  by  placing 
an  order  for  20,000  hatching  eggs  with  one  of  the  largest  white 
Leghorn  farms  in  the  eastern  United  States.  But  of  the  first 
2,000  eggs  delivered  on  this  order,  1,200 
proved  to  be  infertile.  Further  delivery 
from  this  farm  was  stopped,  investigation  xpenments 
revealing  that  the  eggs  were  from  trap-nested  hens.  The  use 
of  trap  nests  would  not  necessarily  have  been  harmful  if  proper 
care  had  been  exercised ;  but  in  this  case  one  man  had  tried  to 
operate  the  nests  for  4,000  hens,  with  the  consequence  that  the 
hens  were  not  released  from  the  nests  from  the  time  of  the  first 
egg  collection  in  the  morning  until  the  second  egg  collection  at 
night.  This  prevented  the  hens  from  associating  with  the 
males.     This  farm  subsequently  failed. 

Another  large  farm  then  received  an  order  for  white  Leghorn 
eggs.  Of  the  10,000  incubated  only  forty-five  per  cent, 
hatched.  The  incubators  had  been  previously  operated  with 
much  better  success,  so  I  concluded  that  the  eggs  were  again 
at  fault.  Close  observation  showed  their  life  germs  to  be 
weak ;  and  further  inquiry  led  to  the  discovery  that  they  were 
laid  by  pullets — not  the  class  of  eggs  a  trustworthy  farm 
should  sell  for  hatching. 

In  order  to  obtain  sufficient  birds  that  year  to  make  the 
Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  the   size  desired, 
a   further  search   was  made   for   hatching  e«  UG?. 

eggs.     Eventually  I  secured  several  thou-     JPr  Hatchin^ 
sand  from  two  large  poultry  plants,  these 
third   and  fourth  lots  hatching  over  sixty  per  cent,  of  live 
and  healthy  chicks. 


1!) 


'1; 

0) 

u 

9) 

ja 

u 

o 

O 

20 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


The  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  started  then  with  flocks  of 
single-comb  white  Leghorn  fowls  made  up  from  these  four 
distinct  strains. 

By  observation,  analysis,  and  experiment  the  qualities 
which  needed  strengthening  in  these  flocks  were  discovered 
and  developed.  Superior  adult  Leghorn  males  from  other 
strains  were  introduced,  to  breed  size  and  strength  where 
needed.  Chickens  are  among  the  most  plastic  forms  of  animal 
life  and  can  be  easily  influenced  in  their  physical  appearance 
and  organic  capacities. 

The  photographs  in  this  chapter  picture,  more  vividly  than 
words,  the  general  appearance  of  the  Rancocas  strain  of  single- 
comb  white  Leghorn  cocks  and  pullets.     A 

I  lip 

brassy  bird  is  segregated  at  once  and  ship- 

/V  1*1  *ii  111"1!*!-!!     n| 

ped  to  market  as  soon  as  practicable.    Many  , 

cocks  are  brought  to  such  perfection  on  the  ry 

Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  that  they  are  KmSdom 
eagerly  sought  by  breeders  of  fancy  and  utility  stock.  It  is 
the  male  bird  that  usually  transmits  color,  and  most  strongly 
influences  the  shape  of  its  progeny.  This  fact  is  used  to  the 
fullest  extent,  but  is  never  carried  to  such  lengths  that  it 
lowers  the  general  vitality  of  the  stock. 

As  a  fair  example  of  how  carefully  the  individuals  of  the 
flocks   are   selected,    last   year's   practice   is   here   described. 
From  4,000  cockerels  brought  to  broiler  size,  1,500  were  kept 
as  being  the  most  desirable  in  weight  and  appearance.     A 
little  later  a  second  selection  reduced  the  1,500  to  1,000.     This 
flock   was   held   under   close   scrutiny   until   the   individuals 
weighed  two  and  a  half  pounds  when  a  final  rigid  selection 
brought  it  down  to  500  birds — only  one  out  of  eight  surviving 
the  tests.     Scientific  and  practical  considerations  governed 
these  selections  so  that  the  500  represented 
the  acme   of   animal  beauty  and   vigor — 
almost  perfection  in  shape,  color,  and  comb. 
Besides  selecting  in  this  manner  from  my  own  flocks,  it  is 
no  secret  that  I  buy  a  few  male  birds  each  year,  regardless 


21 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


of  price.  One-sixth  of  the  cockerels  kept  on  the  farm  are  birds 
that  have  been  hatched  and  raised  from  Rancocas  eggs  on 
other  farms. 

This  is  a  precautionary  means  of  insuring  the  best  possible 
breeding  stock,  as  it  is  thought  that  change  of  climate  and 
environment  may  be  beneficial  to  the  cockerels.  These  for- 
eign males  are  mated  with  Rancocas  hens  in  order  to  introduce 
new  blood  and  prevent  any  chance  of  inbreeding. 

All  the  female  birds  associated  with  foreign  males  this  year 

will  be  killed  and  marketed.     All  pullets  from  eggs  hatched 

from  these  matings  will  also  be  marketed, 
Prevention     Qnly  the  male  birdg  being  kept_     In  this 

m  way  inbreeding  is  made  impossible.     And 

Inbreeding     Qn^.  e^&  from  yearling   or   two-year-old 

hens  are  used  or  sold  for  hatching. 

The  present  Rancocas  strain  of  single-comb  white  Leghorns 
has  been  developed  by  the  practical  application  of  Darwin's 
theories  of  selection  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  The  work 
of  selection  and  culling  goes  on  year  after  year,  for  eternal 
vigilance  is  the  price  of  high  quality.  Even  beyond  the  tests 
for  beauty  and  vigor  I  segregate  all  pullets  and  eliminate  all 
those  not  up  to  the  Rancocas  egg-laying  standard. 


22 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


CHAPTER  III 


Why  General  Eg*£  Farming  is  the 

Most  Profitable  Department 

of  Poultry  Farming 


HE  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  devotes  its 
efforts  chiefly  to  general  egg  farming,  rather 
than  to  producing  poultry  meat.  There  are 
several  reasons  for  this  specialization,  the 
chief  one  being  that  it  has  proved  the  most 
profitable  department  of  poultry  farming. 
In  the  first  place,  there  are  four  sources  of 
profit :  marketing  eggs  all 
the  year;  selected  hatch- 
ing eggs  that  bring  still 

the    baby  chicks;  and    an 


Four 

Sources 

Profit 


o 


higher    prices ; 

unusual  occurrence  of  fancy  fowls. 

The  value  of  eggs  each  year  in  the  United  States  is  many 
millions  of  dollars  greater  than  the  value  of  poultry  meat. 
About  a  billion  eggs  are  consumed  in  New  York  City  annually ; 
but  so  few  of  them  are  of  premium  quality  that  those  people 
who  will  have  fresh  eggs  must  pay  a  premium  of  from  5  to 
20  cents  more  per  dozen.  To  take  advantage  of  this  great 
opportunity  is  the  business  of  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm. 
Competition  for  the  premium  egg  trade  is  a  .  _ 

negligible  matter  for  the  average  farmer,     .  B**  , 

although  he  is  the  man  producing  the  great 
bulk  of  market  eggs.     He  does  not  take  the  trouble  to  raise 
proper   fowls    and  give  them  the   special   care   and   feeding 


23 


24 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


necessary  to  make  them  produce  a  premium  quality  of  eggs. 
The  demand  for  eggs  is  far  ahead  of  the  supply.  There  is 
no  chance  of  a  low-price  era. 

The  man  raising  broilers  or  roasters  gets  no  profit  other  than 
the  meat  profit.  The  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  gets  a  share 
of  the  meat  profit  finally,  but  first  it  sells  400  to  500  eggs  from 
each  hen.  Keeping  hens  after  they  have  reached  the  pullet 
size  requires  only  the  comparatively  small  extra  investment 
for  laying  houses;  and  each  hen  will  pay  a  profit  of  $2.78  a 
year,  over  the  cost  of  feeding  This  is  many  times  more  than 
could  be  made  from  chickens  at  the  broiler  age.  In  growing 
chickens  for  capons,  the  cockerels  usually -are  about  half  of 
the  hatch  and  a  profit  of  $1.00  on  each  would  be  good. 

Almost  all  risk  in  the  poultry  business  comes  before  the 
chicken  reaches  the  broiler  age.     The  broiler  plant  has  its 
losses  concentrated  within  the  few  weeks 
of  a  broiler's  life,  with  the  result  that  these 
losses  amount  to  a  greater  percentage  of  the 
gross  income  from  the  bird  than  they  would  if  it  was  allowed 
to  live  three  or  four  years.     There  is  no  income  from  eggs. 

In  farming  for  eggs  the  hatching  can  be  done  in  the  breed- 
ing season,  when  conditions  are  most  favorable.  The  grower 
of  poultry  meat  has  to  hatch  eggs  and  care  for  young  stock 
the  year  round — when  Nature  is  with  him  and  when  Nature 
is  against  him.  If  the  breeding  hen  is  molting,  or  is  low  in 
vitality,  the  chicks  from  her  eggs  will  be  weak.  Out  of  season 
not  more  than  50  per  cent,  of  the  eggs  are  likely  to  be  fertile. 

In  egg  farming  there  is  a  great  economy  in  feeding  if,  as  at 
the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm,  white  Leghorn  fowls  are  used. 
It  costs  less  to  bring  to  adult  size  and  to 
maintain  a  small  hen  than  to  provide  for 
a  larger  one.     The  Rancocas  white  Leghorn 
hen  weighs  about  four  pounds  at  maturity     _ 
and  produces  eggs  as  large  as  those  of  any 
breed.     The  size,  shape,  and   color  of   eggs  are  decided  by 
Nature,  regardless  of  the  size  and  color  of  the  hen. 


25 


26 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


Besides  market  eggs  to  sell  at  fancy  prices,  the  general  egg 
farmer  with  a  noted  strain  of  birds  has  unlimited  oppor- 
tunities to  dispose  of  hatching  eggs  and  day-old  chicks  in 
season.  These  can  be  produced  cheaply  and  sold  at  high 
prices. 

The  fourth  advantage  held  by  the  general  egg  farmer  with 
a  successful  line  of  birds  comes  through  the  natural  occurrence 
of  exceptionally  well-pointed  fowls  that  are  eagerly  snapped 
up  by  the  fanciers  and  breeders.     A  great 
many  are  sold  from  this  farm,  for  which  y 

we  get  as  much  as  $5  for  a  hen  and  $70  for  a  cock.  A 
sufficient  number  of  the  best  are  kept,  however,  to  maintain 
our  standard. 

There  is  no  department  of  poultry  culture  which  offers  bet- 
ter chances  for  money  making  and  fewer  chances  of  failure 
than  general  egg  farming.  Failures  in  it  are  due  to  similar 
causes  as  in  other  departments  of  the  business,  but  the  oppor- 
tunities for  success  are  more  numerous.  Intelligent  care  and 
proper  equipment  are  necessary  to  a  successful  chicken  busi- 
ness. Birds  are  intensely  nervous  by  nature  and  easily 
affected  for  good  or  ill.  Their  blood  circulates  faster,  they 
breathe  more  rapidly,  their  bodily  temper- 
ature  is  higher,  they  assimilate  more  food 
and    increase     in    weight    proportionatey  . 

faster  than  almost  any  other  form  of  animal 
life.     Whether  they  are  kept  at  a  profit  or  kept  at  a  loss  may 
depend  upon  a  seemingly  inconsequential  act  or  omission  in 
their  care. 

If  a  good  strain  of  birds  is  lacking,  if  equipment  is  inade- 
quate, if  intelligence  is  absent,  if  management  is  slack,  the 
chicken  business,  like  any  other  business  so  managed,  will  go 
to  wreck 


28 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


CHAPTER   IV 

Five  Hundred  Birds,  the  Famous 
"Rancocas  Unit" 


HEN  the  first  experiments  with  laying  houses 
were  made  on  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm 
the  birds  had  been  running  in  flocks  of  15 
to  each  colony.  Flocks  of  100  birds  were 
tried  with  gratifying  re- 
suits  in  increased  vitality 
of  stock,  increased  production  and  fertility 
of  eggs,  and  a  considerable  saving  in  labor. 
After  further  experiments  the  Farm  adopted 
the  plan  of  housing,  yarding,  and  feeding 
500  chickens  together.  This  plan  operated  with  equal 
success,  and  has  been  adhered  to.  All  the  adult  birds  are 
now  kept  in  flocks  of  500  or  more,  requiring  only  36  laying 
houses — or  units. 

Already  the  news  of  the  success  has  spread  abroad,  and  this 
arrangement  is  now  generally  known  to  the  poultry  world  as 
the  "Rancocas  Unit." 

The  advantage  of  the  plan  over  that  of  smaller  flocks  is, 
first,  the  economy  of  labor.  With  these  20,000  birds  in 
flocks  of  15,  there  would  be  1,300  units  scattered  over  a  large 
area,  instead  of  36  units,  thus  greatly  increasing  expenses 
without  any  corresponding  increase  in  income.  The  original 
small  colony  plan  had  also  the  disadvantage  of  costing  more 
for  housing,  and  of  taking  more  space  for  suitable  yards. 
Again,  when  kept   in   larger   flocks,    the   fowls    seem  to  be 


29 


30 


THE       MILLION        EGG        FARM 


tamer,  less  fearful  of  being  cornered,   and  not  so  prone  to 
fight.     These    features    make    for    a    greater    production    of 
eggs  and  for  a  higher  percentage  of  fertility. 
No  hen  is   entirely  unpopular;    and   all 

live  in  peace,  getting  plenty  of  food,  exer- 

..         -,  rlock  and — 

cise,  rest,  and  room. 

The  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  is  proud  of 
the  fact  that  it  was  the  original  plant  to  adopt  the  "Unit  of 
500"  plan  and  thus  demonstrate  that  it  pays  to  concentrate. 

We  shall  now  proceed  to  describe  in  a  general  way  the 
construction  of  laying  houses  on  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm. 
Here  will  be  found  detailed  working  plans,  specifications, 
and  estimates  hitherto  unpublished.  From  this  data  any  one 
may  figure  the  cost  of  building  one  of  these  houses  at  the 
prices  of  building  material  current  in  his  locality. 

All  the  36  laying  houses   on  this  Farm  face  toward  the 
south  in  order  that   they  may  receive  the 
maximum    amount   of   warm   sunshine    in     M 
winter.     They    occupy    75    acres    of    the 
highest  land  on  the  Farm. 

Each  house  is  surrounded  by  about  1J  acres  of  yard  beauti- 
fully shaded  by  pine,  oak,  and  maple  trees.  A  trough  and 
hydrant  for  running  water  are  in  each  yard  near  the  house. 
The  yards  are  fenced  with  2-inch  mesh  wire  poultry  netting, 
6  feet  high.  The  chickens  seldom  fly  over  this  fence,  as  all 
their  needs  are  cared  for  inside.  The  fence  posts,  placed 
15  feet  apart,  are  of  cedar.  One  and  one-half  acres  of 
yard  makes  practically  a  free  range,  without  permitting 
the  birds  to  wander  far  or  steal  nesting  places.  The  yards 
are  approximately  square,  with  the  houses  as  near  the 
center  of  each  as  is  practicable.  All  the  laying  houses, 
excepting  those  used  for  experiment,  are  uniform  in  con- 
struction. A  description  of  but  one  standard  house,  there- 
fore, will  be  given  here. 

The  standard  Rancocas  laying  house  is  100  feet  long  and 
14  feet  wide.     It  is  9  feet  5  inches  high  in  front,  with  a  back 


31 


3 'J 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


height  of  4  feet  5  inches.     The  carrying  capacity  of  a  house  of 

these  dimensions  is  40  per  cent,  greater  than  if  the  width  were 

reduced  to  10  feet;  and  this  greater  capac- 

ity  is  secured  by  merely  building  additional 

floor  and  roof.     The  ceiling  is  of  a  height     Ranc«cas 

sufficient  to  permit  the  operator  to  do  his  * 

work     easily    and    without     bumping    his 

head.     A   higher    ceiling    would    be    more 

expensive  to  build  and  would  also  make  the  house  colder  in 

winter.     The  house  with  a  low  ceiling  is  kept  warm  enough  in 

winter  by  the  natural    heat   from   the    birds.     The    cubical 

capacity  of  a  house  of  this  size  affords  air  enough  for  1,500 

fowls  without  becoming  poisonous  with  carbon  dioxide. 

The  floor  space  available,  including  the  roosting  platform 
and  the  nests,  affords  each  fowl  over  3^-  square  feet  of  room 
in    the    house.     Many   writers    in    dealing 
with  this  feature  of  laying  houses  say  the 
white  Leghorn  fowls  do  not  need  as  much  ®      r 

space   as   heavier  breeds.     But  Leghorns  make  up  for  their 
smaller  size  by  greater  activity. 

The  foundation  of  the  standard  laying  house  is  made  of 
concrete,  6  inches  wide,  set  in  a  bed  of  gravel.  It  is  deep 
enough  to  be  below  the  frost  line  and  high  enough  to  prevent 
surface  water  from  entering  the  house.  The  floor  is  concrete, 
2\  inches  deep,  laid  over  two-ply  tar  roofing  paper  and  gravel. 
The  sills  are  fastened  to  f-inch  bolts,  12  inches  long,  set  in 
concrete  foundation.  The  frame  is  of  hemlock  and  short- 
leaf  pine.  The  sills  and  rafters  are  of  2"  X  4"  studs.  The 
single-pitch  roof  is  sheathed  with  yellow  pine  and  covered 
with  felt  roofing  paper,  pitch,  and  slag.  Shingle  roofs  gather 
frost  on  the  inside  in  winter.  The  single- 
pitch  roof  is  the  easiest  to  build  and  gives  e     ^8  G" 

the   highest  vertical   front  exposed  to  the        *  C        ° 
sun's  rays.     Also,  it  throws  all  the  rain  water  to  the  rear. 
The  doors  and  roosts  are  also  yellow  pine.     The  72  nest  boxes 
are  made  of  white  pine,  as  this  wood  is  easily  scraped  and 


33 


ft 


34 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


cleaned.  The  sidings  are  of  cedar  or  pine,  backed  on  the 
north  side  with  two-ply  tar-roofing  paper  to  keep  out  drafts 
of  air.  Inside  of  the  back  wall,  between  it  and  the  roosting 
platform,  is  an  enclosed  air  space  that  makes  the  house  more 
equable  in  temperature. 

These  special  kinds  of  wood  are  used  because  they  are  easily 
procured  and  are  best  adapted  to  the  purpose.  Eleven  of  the 
window  sashes  contain  glass  panes;  the  remaining  ten  are 
filled  with  plain  muslin  cloth,  and  swing  inward  on  hinges. 

With  this  congenial  and  healthful  environment  the  hens 
are  content  and  busy.  They  eat,  drink,  scratch,  lay  eggs, 
cackle,  and  sleep  naturally — which  means  happily. 

A  laying  house  constructed  in  this  manner  is  absolutely 
dry,  yet  is  simple,  convenient,  permanent,  and  reasonable  in 
cost.     It  is   well   lighted,   well  ventilated, 
without    drafts,    roomy,    and    serviceable.  B 

Including  all  material,  work  of  construc- 
tion, piping  for  water,  and  fencing,  the  total 
cost  is  about  $500.  As  the  house  will  last  30  years,  the  cost 
per  fowl  (SI)  makes  the  housing  expenses  but  3 -J  cents  per 
head  a  year.  Beside  the  construction  and  economy,  there  is 
a  more  important  saving  in  the  matter  of  labor  to  care  for  the 
house.  None  of  the  operators  on  this  farm  cares  for  less  than 
five  houses.  In  fact,  there  is  one  man  who  operates  seven 
houses,  caring  for  about  4,000  chickens.  This  includes 
cleaning,  feeding,  and  watering,  collecting  eggs,  and  general 
oversight. 

If  the  houses  were  less  simply  constructed  and  equipped 
one  man  would  have  all  he  could  do  to  look  after  two  of  them. 
Economy  of  construction,  convenience  in  management,  com- 
fort and  cleanliness  for  the  chickens,  with  protection  against 
natural  enemies,  are  striven  for,  and  secured  to  a  remarkable 
degree,  on  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm. 

Plenty  of  fresh  air,  without  drafts,  gives  vigor  and  snap  to 
the  human  being;  and  it  seems  to  work  equally  well  with  the 
hen.     This  is  why  laying  houses  on  the   Rancocas   Poultry 


35 


36 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


Farm  are  equipped  with  many  muslin  windows ;  they  permit 
fresh  air  to  enter  at  all  times,  keeping  the  house  clean-scented 
and  pure  during  severe  weather  when  the 

M.  116 

other  windows  are  closed.  In  mild,  or 
warm,  weather  all  the  windows  are  kept 
open  constantly,  except  at  night. 

Inside  of  each  glass  window,  wire  netting  is  stretched 
across  the  lower  half  of  the  frame.  The  upper  half  of  each 
glass  window  is  stationary,  only  the  lower  part  sliding  open. 
With  the  muslin  windows,  the  wire  netting  is  fastened  on  the 
outside.  In  the  case  of  the  two  muslin  windows  next  to  the 
ends  and  the  one  in  the  middle,  the  netting  is  tacked  directly 
to  them  and  they  are  so  arranged  as  to  be  easily  removed 
altogether.  This  facilitates  the  removal  of  dirt  when  cleaning 
the  houses.  Without  fresh  air  coming  into  the  houses  con- 
stantly they  would  be  damp,  depressing,  and  disease  breeding, 
with  consequences  to  the  fowls  of  colds,  sniffles,  and  roup; 
and  trouble  and  loss  to  the  Farm. 

Like  every  other  problem  on  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm, 
that  of  how  much  muslin  window  space  and  how  much  glass 
window  space  to  use  in  the  laying  houses  was  carefully  worked 
out  by  tests.     Two  houses  were  built,  one  with  nine  small 
glass    windows    and    twelve    large    muslin 
windows,  the  other  with  twelve  large  glass 
windows   and    nine    small    muslin-covered 
openings.    The  accurate  record  of  a  winter's 
experiment  showed  that  the  house  with  more  glass  windows 
was   on   an  average  two  per  cent,   warmer  in  temperature 
than  the  other,  but   more  liable  to  variation   by  reason  of 
greater  humidity  in  the  confined  air  and  the  condensation 
of  moisture  on  the  windows. 

The  house  with  the  fewer  glass  windows  was  dryer  but 
did  not  receive  sufficient  light  during  dark  and  snowy  days  to 
encourage  the  fowls  to  scratch  for  their  food  and  thus  get 
necessary  exercise.  Too  much  glass  makes  a  house  cold  at 
night  in  the  winter  months  and  warm  in  the  summer.     The 


57 


38 


THE       MILLION       EGG        FARM 


windows,  being  placed  high  and  vertical,  permit  the  sunlight 
to  reach  the  back  of  the  house. 

From  these  experiments  originated  the  present  standard 
equipment  of  11  glass  windows  and  10  muslin  windows. 

The  muslin  windows  are  above  the  level  of  the  perches, 
so  the  fresh  air  coming  through  them  circulates  above  the 
heads  of  the  fowls  at  all  times.  Artificial  heating  is  unneces- 
sary and  undesirable,  as  the  fowls  are  healthier  without  it. 
With  the  amount  of  cold  air  controlled  by  the  muslin  window 
space,  the  combs  of  fowls  are  not  frozen  in  zero  weather. 

In  the  literature  of  poultry  raising  much  has  been  said  for 
and  against  cement  floors.     At  this  Farm  study  and  experi- 
ment   were    again    resorted    to.      Before 
cement    floors    were    adopted,    there    de-  m 

veloped  in  two  flocks  bad   cases  of  roup, 
caused  by  dampness.     To  keep  the  disease  from  spreading, 
and  to  be  certain  of  not  breeding  from  these  fowls,  all   of 
them  were  killed. 

Then  cement  floors  were  laid  in  the  houses  to  make  them 

dry.     Since  that  time  numerous  other  considerations  have 

strengthened  the   Farm  in  its   adherence  to   cement   floors. 

For  instance,  by  chemical  analysis,  it  is  known  that  when 

3.j  feet  of  floor  space  is  given  a  bird  in  a  house  with  only 

an  earth  floor,  the  soil  becomes  contam- 

inated  to  a  depth  of  15  inches  in  a  year. 

T  j        i  ,        ,,    ,        ot  Concrete 

lo  remove  and  replace  so  much  soil  twice 

in  a  year — and  even  then  one  cannot  be  sure  that  all  the 
contamination  from  droppings  has  been  removed — is  more 
expensive  than  to  build  a  permanent  concrete  floor.  Besides 
protection  from  dampness  and  avoidance  of  annual  expense 
to  replace  an  earth  floor,  cement  floors  are  very  durable  and 
prevent  rats  from  tunneling  into  the  building  and  stealing 
feed,  eggs,  and  fowls. 

During  the  summer  months  the  concrete  floor  is  covered 
with  1  \  inches  of  sand.  This  is  newly  spread  when  the  winter 
litter  is  removed  in  March.     The  sand  tends  to  absorb  any 


40 


1 

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m 


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42 


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Elevation  and  Floor  Plan  of  Feeding  and  Mixing  House 

43 


Pi 


D 


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D 


rH    \-\\f^—t 


44 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


moisture  floating  in  the  air;  prevents  the  birds  from  getting 
"bumble"  feet;  and  keeps  the  house  in  a  sanitary  and  whole- 
some condition.  In  the  fall,  when  the  birds  are  through 
molting,  this  sand  is  replaced  with  fresh  sand  and  covered 
with  straw — -sheaves  cut  into  halves  and  left  for  the  birds 
gradually  to  break  up.  An  inch  or  two  of  new  straw  is  added 
occasionally  to  freshen  the  litter,  until  by  January  it  is  6 
inches  deep.  On  days  when  the  fowls  are  kept  in,  the  sand 
and  straw  afford  excellent  material  for  the  hens  to  scratch 
and  wallow  in. 


45 


4(i 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


CHAPTER  V 


Relating  to  Nests,  Roosts,  Mites, 
And  Disinfecting 


HE  nests  with  which  the  laying  house  is 
equipped  are  in  long  rows  under  the 
windows.  This  economizes  room  and 
facilitates  the  gathering  of  eggs.  It  is 
asserted  by  many  that  hens'  nests  should 
be  kept  dark,  not  to  increase  egg  produc- 
tion, but  to  prevent  egg  eating.  With  all 
the  hundreds  of  light  and  open  nests  on 
this  Farm,  the  first  case  of  egg  eating  has 
yet  to  be  discovered.  The  secret  is  that 
in  our  system  of  feeding  and  care,  the  hens  do  not  lack 
protein,  lime,  or  gluten;  therefore,  they  are  not  driven  to 
egg  eating  to  satisfy  natural  desire  for  such  food  elements. 
Were  egg  eating  natural,  the  priority  of  the  hen  or  the  egg 
would  indeed  be  an  enigma. 

On  the  basis  of  72  nests  to  a  laying  house  there  is  one 
nest  for  every  seven  hens.     As   the  nests 
are  12  inches  square,  two  hens  often  occupy 
one  nest  at  the  same  time. 

Each  nest  is  easily  accessible  to  the  hens.  Cut  straw  in 
the  nests,  kept  clean  by  occasional  renewing,  insures  unbroken, 
clean,  white  eggs  and  makes  the  laying  places  comfortable 
for  the  hens.  The  use  of  cut  straw,  instead  of  whole  straw, 
gives  an  opportunity  for  economy  when  replacing  soiled 
parts.     At  night-time  the  hinged  covers  are  let  down  to  keep 


Seven  Hens 
to  a  Nest 


47 


48 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


the  chickens  from  roosting  on  the  nests  and  fouling  them; 
and  also  to  discourage  broodiness. 

The  roosts,  which  are  in  the  laying  houses,  consist  of  three 
level,  parallel  rows  of  perches,  and  a  platform,  extending 
the  length  of  each  house.  The  perches  are  level  so  that 
there  will  be  no  crowding  on  an  uppermost  one.  The  plat- 
form is  high  enough  above  the  floor  to  allow  easy  cleaning, 
sunlight,  and  space  for  the  fowls  under  it.  The  perch  rails 
are  of  pine  wood,  3  inches  by  2  inches, 
and  10  feet  long.  They  are  laid  on  supports, 
sidewise  and  unfastened,  9  inches  above  the  platform.  The 
perch  rails  being  movable,  makes  it  easy  for  the  operator  to 
scrape,  turn,  and  disinfect  them;  and  to  move  them  out  of 
the  way  when  cleaning  the  platform.  Each  fowl  has  about  8 
inches  of  perch  room,  which  is  ample  for  white  Leghorns. 

White  Leghorn  hens  have  less  inclination  toward  broodi- 
ness than  other  breeds.  The  few  that  do  manifest  this 
inclination  are  put  in  a  box,  or  cage,  called  the  "cooler," 
which  is  placed  over  the  perches  in  a  corner  of  the  laying 

house.     The  cooler  is  built  with  a  slatted 

Too 
floor  and  without  perches.     The  air  pass- 

ing  through  this  floor  effectually  cools  the 

hen's  blood   and    restores  her  to  normal  condition,  usually 

within  48  hours.      No  hens  are  set  at  the  Rancocas  Poultry 

Farm,  their  services  as  egg  layers  being  too  valuable. 

Mites  are  the  bane  of  unclean,  improperly  managed  poultry 

plants.     Unfortunately,    how   to   avoid   them   and   the    dire 

results  consequent  upon  their  presence  is  not  well  understood 

by   the   majority   of   poultry  men.     In   fact,  many   persons 

know  of  no   distinction  between  red  mites 

and  the  varieties    of    lice    that    are    com-        /  es  an 

paratively    harmless.     The    red    mite  con-        l 

ceals  itself  under  the  perches,  and  in  any  available  cracks 

and    crevices    near   the    roosting    places.     There   it  deposits 

its  eggs,  which  hatch  out  by  thousands  in  a  few  hours.     It  is  a 

deadly   parasite  and  lives  entirely  on    blood  extracted  from 


50 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


the  body  of  the  chicken,  which  causes  a  falling  off  of  the 
egg  yield.  This  manifests  itself  in  contagious  scaly  legs,  a 
pale  comb,  and  a  drooping  and  drowsy  general  appearance 
of  the  bird.  Most  of  the  mite's  nefarious  work  is  done  at 
night-time,  when  the  fowl  should  be  resting.  Every 
precaution  is  taken  that  mites  shall  not  appear  on  this  plant. 


Showing  a  Rancocas  Layer  With  Clean,  Healthy  Legs,  Due  to  Proper  Disinfectants, 
Compared  With  a  Borrowed  Scaly  Leg  Fowl 


Lice  do  not  sap  the  vitality  of  fowls  as  do  mites.  In 
fact,  a  hen  is  just  as  happy  with  a  few  lice  as  without  any, 
for  they  live  on  the  dry  scale  and  dandruff  discharged  from 
the  hen's  skin  and  feathers.  Sanitary  housing  and  plenty 
of  dust  baths  keep  lice  from  becoming  a  pest.  Chickens 
never  wash  in  water,  as  do  many  other  birds,  but  keep  them- 


51 


52 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


selves  sanitary  and.  cleansed  of  insects  by  washing  with  sand 
and  dust. 

There  is  no  doubt  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  using  a 
disinfecting  solution  on  a  well-conducted  poultry  plant. 
And  this  disinfectant  must  be  inexpensive,  must  be  powerful 
and  certain  in  action,  and  must  be  harmless  to  the  birds. 
There  are  many  excellent  commercial  preparations,  but  the 
Rancocas    Poultry    Farm    makes    its    own 

solution  and  saves  the  dealers'  profit.     A 

to  lYIitcs 

solution  of  16  parts  of  kerosene  to   1   part 

of  napthaline  flake  is  used.  This  is  sprayed  about  the  perches, 
platforms,  and  all  cracks  and  crevices,  by  means  of  a  bucket 
force  pump,  once  a  week  in  spring  and  summer,  and  every 
ten  days  in  winter.  Before  the  spraying  is  begun,  everything 
is  scraped  and  cleaned.  This,  together  with  abundant 
sunlight  and  fresh  air,  keeps  the  houses  in  sanitary  condition. 

The  sandy  soil  of  the  Farm  makes  it  unnecessary  to  provide 
artificial  dust  baths.  When  there  is  rain  or  snow  outside, 
the  sand  covering  the  cement  floors  gives  the  fowls  opportu- 
nity for  baths  in  the  houses.  Frequent 
dust  baths  are  essential  to  the  fowls'  well-  US  a  S 
being.  When  they  fill  their  feathers  with  sand,  the  fine 
particles  have  a  scouring  action,  removing  dandruff  and 
lice.  The  less  dandruff  on  a  hen  the  fewer  the  lice  that 
can  feed  there.     See  page  110  for  illustration. 

The    Rancocas    Poultry    Farm's   water   supply   is    from   a 
stream  on  the  property.     It  is  constantly     _,.      ,.. 
under  control  and,  therefore,  free  from  the     „ 
danger  of  contamination.  pp  y 

From  troughs  in  the  yards  the  chickens  get  their  water  for 
about  11  months  of  the  year.  When  they  are  confined, 
10-quart  open  crocks  of  water  are  placed  on  stands  inside 
the  houses.  Water  has  never  frozen  in  the  houses,  even 
during  zero  weather  outside.  When  it  is  remembered  that 
an  egg  is  about  two-thirds  water,  the  importance  of  quantity 
and  purity  is  evident. 


53 


54 


THE       MILLION       EGG        FARM 


CHAPTER   VI 


The  Story  of  the  Egg 
of  Meat 


It  is  Full 


Rancocas 
Aims  to  g£et 
ALL  the  E^s 


URING  a  chicken's  pullet  year  she  grows 
her  cluster  of  eggs — four  or  five  hundred 
little  yolks,  each  about  the  size  of  a  berry 
seed.  From  this  original  cluster  must  be 
developed  all  the  eggs 
the  hen  can  ever  produce. 
When  the  cluster  is  laid, 
or  exhausted  from  any 
other  cause,  the  hen  can  lay  only  a  yolkless 
affair  that  is  of  no  value.  While  the  hen's 
laying  condition  is  normal,  she  will  develop  and  lay  eggs  regu- 
larly, but  during  molting  and  broody  seasons  the  development 
of  eggs  stops — the  little  members  of  the  cluster  lie  dormant. 
The  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  aims,  by  careful  feeding,  to 
get  the  entire  cluster  of  eggs  Nature  gives  a  hen;  and,  more 
than  that,  by  using  a  non-setting  breed,  and  exercising  con- 
trol over  the  period  of  molting,  to  get  as  many  as  possible  at 
the  very  time  when  prices  are  highest. 

As  to  fertility  of  hatching  eggs,  944  per  cent,  was  the 
Rancocas  average  during  1909  and  1910. 
This  unsurpassed  record  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  chickens  are  carried  to  the 
highest  possible  level  of  good  health, 
vitality,  and  activity;  and  that  their  management  is  based 
upon  scientific  and  practical  principles. 


An 

Unsurpassed 

Fertility 


55 


66 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


For  every  20  birds  in  a  laying  house,  one  male  bird  is 
furnished.  Tests  for  percentage  of  fertility  were  made  with 
but  five  hens  to  one  cock,  resulting  in  less  than  90  per  cent. 
With  500  hens  to  25  cocks,  all  at  liberty  in  a  spacious  house 
and  yard,  there  is  but  little  rivalry  and  fighting.  No  hen  is 
entirely  neglected;  and  careful  watching  discovers  whether 
or  not  the  hens  take  kindly  to  a  new  male.  Chickens,  as  well 
as  other  bipeds,  have  strong  likes  and  dislikes.  It  is  this 
Farm's  experience  that  hens  lay  more  eggs  and  are  generally 
more  healthful  when  males  run  with  the  flock.  Care  is  taken, 
of  course,  to  avoid  mating  birds  of  the  same  age  or  parentage. 
Condiments  to  force  laying  are  absolutely  tabooed;  they  are 
useless,  unnecessary,  and  injurious. 

The  system  of  feeding  for  laying  hens  at  the   Rancocas 

Poultry  Farm  is  a  factor  of  importance  second  to  none;  for 

primarily  upon  this  feature  the  success  or 

w  irst 
failure  of  an  egg  farm  depends.     Profitable 

feeding  for  eggs  begins  from  the  time  of  the  m 

chick's  infancy  and  continues  until  all   of 
the  cluster  of  eggs  has  gone  to  market.     In  her  wild  state  the 
hen  lived  upon  seeds,  green  food,  bugs,  worms,  and  water. 

It  is  therefore  a  mistaken  idea  that  corn  alone  is  sufficient 
for  a  hen.     Corn  to  a  chicken  is  like  cake  and  candy  to  a 
child.     Chemistry  declares  and  experience  proves  that  a  lay- 
ing hen  needs  starch,  gluten,  oil,  meat,  and  shell;  that  she 
needs  animal  food  to  make  albumen;  that  she  requires  green 
stuff  as  a  tonic  and  a  regulator;  and  that  water  is  absolutely 
necessary.     As  has  been  aptly  said,   "The  laying  hen  is  a 
hard  drinker  and  hearty  eater."    But  she  neither  overdrinks 
nor  overeats  if  furnished  the  proper  foods     tt 
systematically.      Systematic  feeding  is   of 
importance;    "a    feast-or-a-f amine "     style 
is  unhealthy  for  fowl  as  well  as  man.     The  ,, 

instinctive    appetite    of    a    hen,    carefully 
watched  and  gratified,  is  the  best  guide  to  rational  feeding. 
When  these  principles  are  applied,  robust  health  and  stamina, 


57 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


rich  blood,  healthy  fat,  strong  muscles  and  bones,  and  fertile 

eggs  will  result.     For  several  years  now  the  Rancocas  Farm 

has  fed  chickens  upon  these  principles,  securing  a  profitable 

percentage  of  eggs  and  avoiding  losses  from  overfatness  and 

indigestion.     It   is   not    claimed    that    application    of   these 

principles  constitutes  "the  only  system,"  but   that  it   does 

give    good  results.     And,   knowing  it  is    good,  no  change  is 

made. 

Many  failures  in  the  chicken  business  are  due  to  constant 

vacillation  on  the  part  of  the  novice;  or  to  9j   _    _ 

,.       j,  ,  ,  i        Don  t   Kide 

his  adherence  to  poor  rules  composed  by  __ 

some  one  with  certain  mixtures  to  sell  or 

with  a  rigid  hobby  to  ride.     There  are  no  hard  and  fast  rules 

that  can  be  applied  with  success  to  every  case. 

General  environment,  breed  of  fowls,  and  prices  of  feeds 
must  be  considered  in  determining  the  right  rations.  Nature 
offers  the  egg  farmer  a  valuable  lesson  in  making  the  spring- 
time productions  an  easy  matter.  Fowls  at  liberty  to  roam 
find  abundant  animal  and  green  food  and  fresh  air  on  their 
range.  This,  with  grain  and  exercise,  furnishes  a  perfect 
ration.  The  egg  farmer  who  can  furnish  in  winter  rations 
and  conditions  that  nearly  approach  those  of  spring  will  surely 
reap  his  reward. 

The  first  feeding  of  the  day  on   the  Rancocas  Farm  is  a 

mash  placed  in  the  troughs  of  the  laying     _.,•-_ 

,  ,  -      A  0 . ,  ,    -,   •    ,u   .   ■  The  Morning 

houses  between  7  and  8  o  clock  in  the  morn- 

ing.     Its   composition  by  weight,   for   500 
chickens,  is  as  follows: 

8  pounds  bran 

7  pounds  middlings 

7  pounds  corn  and  oats,  ground 

4  pounds  beef  scrap 

5  pounds  clover,  chopped  fine 
h  pound  fine  oyster  shell 

3J  pounds  linseed  meal 

Total,     35  pounds 


59 


60 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


Each  chicken,  therefore,  gets  about  1  ounce  of  mash  at 
this  feeding.  The  mash  is  thoroughly  mixed  with  enough 
water  to  leave  it  crumbly  but  not  mushy.  If  it  were  wet 
enough  to  be  mushy  it  would  be  unpalatable  and  cause 
diarrhea. 

The  clover  in  this  feed  is  scalded  in  hot  „ 

water  before  it  is  mixed,  to  keep  it  sweet, 
thus   avoiding  another  cause  of  diarrhea. 
Scalded    mashes    keep   twice   as    long   as   those   mixed  with 
cold  water. 

The  beef  scrap  in  this  ration  closely  resembles  in  food  value 
the  bugs  and  worms  fowls  find  while  roaming  at  large.  It 
supplies  much  of  the  protein,  with  enough  nitrogen  and  phos- 
phorus, to  make  the  chicken's  meat  lean  and  to  strengthen 
ligaments,  tendons,  nails,  beak,  blood,  and  feathers.  It 
enters  also  into  the  composition  of  eggs.  Roughly  speaking 
an  egg  is  11  per  cent,  protein,  8  per  cent,  fat,  8  per  cent,  ash, 
11  per  cent,  shell,  and  62  per  cent,  water.  A  hen  is  25  per 
cent,  protein,  20  per  cent,  fat,  4  per  cent,  ash,  and  50  per 
cent,  water. 

The  condition  of  the  droppings  is  an  indication  of  the  hen's 

health.     If  they  are  soft,  or  pasty,  and  yellowish  or  brownish, 

the  hen  lacks  meat.     If  they  are  watery     _,  . 

,         , .  .         ,         ,      ,  .     • J     ,  ,   :      Note  the 

and  contain  red  spots,  too  much  meat  is 

being  fed.    Greenish  watery  droppings  indi- 

cate  unsanitary  conditions  in  environment,  food,  or  water.' 

If  they  are  of  a  consistency  to  hold  their  shape,  but  not  too 

hard,  the  indication  is  good. 

Only  a  good  grade  of  beef  scrap  should  be  used  in  this  mash, 

or   at   any   other   time.     Occasionally   beef   scrap   has   been 

returned  to  the  dealer,  tests  on  the  farm  showing  the  meat  to 

be  bad.     Tests  are  made  by  putting  a  handful  of  beef  scrap 

into  two  or  three  quarts  of  scalding  hot  water  and  covering 

the  pail  with  a  cloth.     After  two  or  three  minutes  the  cloth  is 

lifted,  when  the  odor  of  the   mixture   quickly  informs   the 

experimenter  whether  or  not  the  beef  scrap  is  fit  for  food. 


ci 


o 


62 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


If  it  is  good,  the  odor  from  the  test  will  be  not  unlike  that 
of  good  beef  extract. 

As  to  the  proper  time  of  day  to  feed  a  mash,  much  has  been 
said  and  written.     Experience  shows  that  best  results  come 
when  it  is  fed  early  in  the  morning,  for 
the    hens    seem  to    get    the    most   benefit 
from  it   at  that  time.     During  the  night 
the  fowls  have  digested  the  food  consumed  the  day  before,  and 
have  comparatively  empty  crops  and  healthy  digestive  organs, 
so  that  the  morning  mash  is  quickly  assimilated,  only  little  time 
being  required  to  grind  the  ration  in  the  chicken's  gizzard. 

The  morning  scratch  feed  is  scattered  broadcast  throughout 

the  yards  at  about  9  o'clock.     The  grains  falling  upon  the 

pine  needles   and   sandy  ground   give  the 

fowls  incentive  to   scratch,   and  this   pro-     „,       . 

•      Feed 

vides   sufficient   exercise  to  keep  up  their 

physical  condition.  When  the  ground  is  covered  with  snow 
or  is  wet  with  falling  rain,  this  feeding  is  done  in  the  sand 
and  straw  litter  within  the  laying  houses. 

Sometimes — if  a  flock  is  sluggish,  loath  to  move,  and  in 
obvious  need  of  more  exercise  than  it  has  been  taking — this 
feed  is  divided  into  two  parts  and  scattered  at  two  periods, 
half  an  hour  apart. 

For  a  flock  of  500  chickens,  the  morning  scratch  feed  is 
1\  pounds  of  barley  and  1\  pounds  of  hulled  oats,  well  mixed. 
Each  fowl  gets  about  half  an  ounce. 

The  third  feeding  of  the  day  is  of  green  stuff  chopped  to 
half-inch  lengths,  or  of  vegetable  matter  in  the  winter,  given 
between  10:30  and  11  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing.    A  full  bushel  basket  of  green  food,     Green  Feed 
weighing  30  pounds,  is  scattered  to  500  hens. 

This  is  a  tonic  and  food  greatly  relished  by  the  fowls.  It 
furnishes  much  of  the  yellow  matter  in  the  yolk  of  hens'  eggs, 
beaks,  and  legs.  It  makes  eggs  more  palatable,  more  fertile, 
and  the  chicks  hatched  from  them  more  vigorous.  Clover 
cut  from  the  late  fall's  seeding,  or  rye  before  it  has  grown 


63 


lil 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


coarse,  is  the  green  stuff  used  in  spring,  large  quantities  of 
which  are  grown  on  the  farm.  When  either  of  these  becomes 
scarce,  Canadian  peas,  young  and  tender  corn,  or  clover  hay, 
takes  their  place.  Clover,  however,  is  the  green  food  most 
relished  by  the  fowls;  it  is  juicy  and  rich  in  nitrogen. 

To  supplement  the  winter  ration  of  chopped  hay,  rutabaga 
turnips  and  sugar  beets  are  fed.     Two  thousand  bushels  of 
these  vegetables  were  grown  and  used  on  ' 
the  Farm  last  year.     They  are  kept  in  a  *? 

long  pile  4  feet  wide  and  3  feet  high, 
covered  with  6  inches  of  straw,  with  6  inches  of  soil  on  top, 
ready  for  winter  use.  Small  openings  in  the  top  of  the  cover- 
ing permit  heat  and  moisture  to  escape  from  the  vegetables. 
These  vegetable  foods  are  fed  without  being  cut  up — a  bushel 
being  thrown  to  500  fowls,  for  them  to  pick  at  as  wanted. 
It  is  astonishing  to  see  how  quickly  the  chickens  make 
away  with  them. 

No  green  food  is  grown  in  the  yards  and  runs  on  the  Ran- 
cocas  Poultry  Farm,  as  it  is  desired  to  keep  them  free  for  the 
chickens'  scratching  and  exercise,  rather  than  for  pasture. 
They  are  ploughed  up  twice  a  year,  or  even  oftener.  A 
serious  objection  to  planting  the  yards  and  runs  for  pasture 
is  that  ground  so  planted  must  eventually  become  unsanitary. 
The  roots  and  parts  of  plants  not  eaten  by  the  fowls,  forming 
humus,  would  soon  prevent  rain  from  filtering  through  and 
cleaning  the  yards.  With  the  top  soil  kept  free  from  humus, 
gap  worms,  which  do  not  thrive  in  clean,  dry  soil,  are  elim- 
inated. The  absence  of  dirt  and  moisture  contributes  also 
to  the  avoidance  of  colds  and  liver  disorders. 

The  noon  feeding  is  exactly  the  same  as  the  morning  scratch 
feed  just  described.     It  is  thrown  around     jyoon  an<j 
the  yards  when  the  operator  collects  eggs     Eveirind 
at  noontime.     The  hens  usually  come  off     pi 
the  nests  at  this  time  and  give  the  feeder 
a  chance  to  gather  the  eggs  more  quickly  than  if  he  had  to 
feel  under  a  number  of  layers. 


65 


66 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


The  evening  ration  is  placed  in  the  troughs  in  the  laying 
houses  shortly  before  dark,  so  that  the  hens  can  easily  fill 
their  crops  just  before  going  to  roost.  A  large  part  of  the 
hen's  egg  making  goes  on  while  she  sleeps ;  most  of  the  eve- 
ning feed,  therefore,  is  transformed  into  eggs. 

This  last  ration  of  the  day  consists  of  50  pounds  of  wheat 
and  cracked  corn,  mixed,  for  500  chickens,  each  chicken 
getting  over  an  ounce  and  a  half.  The  proportion  of  corn 
to  wheat  is  increased  as  the  weather  grows  colder.  During 
April,  May,  June,  July,  and  August,  it  is  usually  in  the  ratio 
of  1  of  corn  to  4  of  wheat ;  in  September,  October,  and  Novem- 
ber, 2  to  5 ;  and  when  the  weather  becomes  frosty,  it  is  changed 
to  half  corn  and  half  wheat.  In  December,  January,  and 
February,  if  the  weather  is  from  15°  to  10°  F.  above  zero, 
the  proportion  is  3  parts  of  corn  to  1  part  of  wheat.  Below 
this  temperature  the  night  feeding  is  all  corn. 

When  an  all-corn  evening  feed  is  given,  the  noon  feed  is 
changed  to  wheat.     Corn  is   chiefly  valuable  in   producing 
bodily  heat  for  the  fowls.     Great  care  is     rpi         **      , 
taken    that    the    hens    shall    not    become     i\0*  c^f 
overfat  and  thus  disabled  for  proper  laying,     y00  T?af 
It  is  a  rule  to  place  in  the  troughs  at  this 
feeding  a  slightly  larger  amount  than  the  fowls  will  consume, 
so  that  timid  or  late  comers  need  not  go  to  roost  hungry. 

The  fowls  are  fed  frequently  so  that  they  will  not  gorge  at  any 
one  time  and  become  lazy.  Idle  fowls  contract  bad  habits, 
besides  going  out  of  condition  from  lack  of  exercise.  The  hens 
are  kept  slightly  hungry  during  the  day  and  only  before  roosting 
time  are  given  all  they  can  eat.  This  last  feeding  is  not  burned 
up  in  exercise,  but  goes  directly  to  the  making  of  eggs. 

In  addition  to  this  regular  hand  feeding,  two  large,  open 
hoppers    are   kept   in   each   laying   house,     ffonner 
They  contain  a  supply  of  dry  mash  similar     PVpdind 
to  the  morning  ration  but  with  the  beef 
scrap  omitted.     This  provides  nourishment  for  any  bird  that 
may  have  gone  short  in  the  regular  feeding. 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


An  Overfat  Hen 


In  other  apartments  of  the  hopper  are  mica  grit,  charcoal, 
and  beef  scrap. 

Grit  is  essential  to  the  welfare  of  chickens.  Their  gizzards 
take  the  place  of  teeth  and  constantly  rotate  the  sharp, 
irregular  pieces  of  grit  when  food  is  there,  grinding  the  food 
preparatory  to  assimilation.  Without  sufficient  grit,  undue 
strain  is  thrown  on  other  parts  of  the  fowl's  system,  often 
resulting  in  disease  by  allowing  the  food  to  pass  through  the 
bird's  body  without  being  assimilated. 

Much  of  the  mineral  matter  used  by  fowls  comes  from  the 
grit  consumed.  Not  a  great  deal  of  grit  is  taken  from  these 
hoppers,  however,  as  the  natural  sand  in  the  yards  furnishes 


68 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


a  kind  better  liked  by  the  hens.     But  mica  grit  is  before  them 
in  the  houses,  to  use  if  they  want  it. 

The  charcoal  aids  digestion  and  prevents  disorders  by 
sweetening  the  organism  of  the  fowls.  It  is  a  powerful 
absorbent,  taking  up  the  gases,  impurities,  and  acids,  thus 
acting  as  a  corrective  when  the  stomach  is  sour.  Chickens 
partake  freely  of  charcoal. 

Hopper  feeding  of  beef  scrap  is  regarded  on  the  Rancocas 
Poultry  Farm  as  emphatically  necessary. 

No  two  layers  are  in  exactly  the  same  condition :  one  may  be 
overfat,  requiring  more  protein  and  less  fat ;     TW0*e  This 
another  just  the  reverse.     It  is  impossible     Rancocas 
for  the  man  caring  for  the  birds  to  know     EXDerience 
the  precise  conditions   of   every   fowl,    or 
always  to  gauge  the  proportions  of  food  most  desirable.     This 
hopper  of  beef   scrap   puts  such  problems  up  to  the  birds 
themselves;  and  they  instinctively  are  the  best    judges    of 
what  they  need.     On  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm,  under  this 
method,  the  hens  produce  more  and  better  eggs  than  under 
any  other  method  tried. 

In  small  hoppers,  one  at  each  end  of  the  laying  house, 
coarse  oyster  shell  is  placed.  A  hen  laying  heavily  does  not 
get  enough  lime  from  the  grains  to  form  the  shells  of  her  eggs. 
This  is  supplied  by  the  oyster  shells. 

Of  all  foods  on  a  poultry  plant,  water  is  the  one  most  needed. 
The  general  farmer  often  lets  every  water  trough  freeze  and 
wonders  why  he  gets  no  eggs.     Abundant     \yafer  as 
quantities   of  fresh   water   are   before   the     |rooci 
chickens  on  THIS  FARM  at  all  times  in 
crocks  in  the  laying  house,  and  in  troughs  in  the  yards.    The 
crocks  and  the   troughs    are  washed   frequently.     The  first 
thing  a  hen  does  in  the  morning,  the  last  thing  at  night,  and 
many  times  between,  is  to  drink  water.     The  food  consumed 
in  greatest  quantity  at  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  is  water. 

After  the  birds  have  gone  to  roost,  the  night  watchman 
comes  on  duty.     At  sunrise  he  gives  them  fresh  water,  and 


69 


70 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


opens  the  windows  to  let  in  all  the  fresh  air  and  sunshine 
possible.  The  hens  keep  busy,  until  the  regular  feeders  come 
around,  picking  up  any  food  left  from  the  previous  evening. 

The  gathering  of  eggs  from  the  laying  houses  is  done  in 
common  feed  pails,  at  noon  and  just  before  dark.  The  first 
collection  yields  two-thirds  of  the  total  number,  as  the  hens 
generally  begin  laying  at  9  o'clock  and  are  ^  .1  .  , 
finished  by  2  o'clock.  The  eggs  are  taken  r™  waa 
to  the  egg  room,  where  they  are  sorted 
according  to  size  and  shape,  and  packed  in  crates,  ready  for 
shipment  on  the  afternoon  train.  When  hatching  eggs  are 
wanted,  eggs  of  medium  size,  uniform  shape,  air-tight,  and 
with  smooth  shells  are  selected  and  placed  in  racks  to  avoid 
evaporation,  with  the  large  end  up  in  order  to  establish  the 
air  cells.  No  pullet  eggs  are  used  or  sold  for  hatching.  The 
few  undersized,  misshapen,  or  rough  eggs  occurring  are  culled 
out,  the  remainder  going  to  market  as  premium  eggs,  to  be 
served  on  New  York  breakfast  tables  the  following  morning. 
The  small  eggs  and  any  others  not  up  to  premium  quality 
are  sold  at  a  reduced  price.  But  this  1  ind  is  almost  un- 
known on  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm.  Usually  it  is  an 
overfat  hen  that  lays  round,  double-yolked,  or  badly  shaped 
eggs,  as  the  hen's  internal  fatness  affects  her  oviduct  and 
makes  the  eggs  misshapen. 

The  size  of  eggs  laid  by  the  same  hens  can  be  influenced  by 
the    quantity    and    quality    of    food    they    are    given.     The 
Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  sold  a  pen  of  birds 
to  a  man  who  later  complained  that   the 
eggs  he  gathered  were  getting  smaller  every         e       I?1^^. 
day— and    asked    Why?      Through    corre-     ^ize  ot    L^S 
spondence  it  was  discovered  that  the  hens   were  not  being 
properly  fed.     A  copy  of  the  Rancocas  feeding  formulas  was 
sent  to  this  man,  and  within  three  weeks  he  wrote  that  the 
hens  were  laying  eggs  as  large  as  when  he  first  received  them. 


71 


72 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


CHAPTER  VII 


Molting;    The  Time  When  the  Hen 
Needs  Special  Care 


HE  price  of  eggs  is  highest  in  the  fall  and 
winter  months,  when  hens  are  molting,  and 
laying  less  frequently.  Hens  cannot  molt 
and  lay  at  the  same  time;  shedding  old 
feathers  and  growing  new  ones  takes  much 
of  the  fowl's  strength.  And  they  need 
special  feeding  and  watchful  care  during 
this  critical  period. 

The  average  farmer's  flock  usually  molts 
its  feathers  in  November,  December,  and 
January.  The  result  is,  that  as  he  furnishes  90  per  cent,  of 
the  eggs  available  for  market,  the  quantity  falls  and  the  price 
rises.  As  soon  as  the  molting  is  over — and  this  term  is  made 
to  include  the  growing  of  new  feathers — the  farmer's  hens 
resume  laying  eggs  as  before  and  prices  go  down  again. 

Rancocas  hens  are  made  to  molt  early  in  the  fall  so  that 
they  will  be  laying  well  in  winter,  when 
the  price  for  eggs  is  highest.  For  the 
largest  profit  a  good  proportion  of  eggs 
must  be  secured  in  winter.  One  extra 
egg  a  week  from  each  hen  in  winter  will  pay  for  all  she  eats. 
Forced  molting  is  brought  about  on  the  MILLION  EGG 
FARM  by  confining  the  birds  in  their  houses  for  three  days 
and  feeding  them  much  less  than  usual  (about  one-half  of 
the  regular  rations)  in  order  to  reduce  the  surplus  fat.     In 


Rancocas 
Hens  Molt 
Early 


73, 


74 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


the  middle  of  August  the  feathers  are  dried  nearly  to  the  end 
of  the  quill  and  it  requires  only  the  reduction  of  surplus  fat 
and  an  increase  of  oil-containing  food  to  make  new  feathers 
and  push  the  old  ones  out.  Therefore,  the  decrease  in  the 
feed  during  the  period  of  confinement  is  principally  in  foods 
containing  protein  and  oil,  as  feathers  are  composed  largely 
of  these  two  constituents.  After  three  days  the  birds  are 
liberated  and  the  regular  quantities  of  food  resumed,  but  the 
proportion  of  nutrients  in  the  ration  is  changed  so  that 
the  ration  will  assist  materially  in  the  formation  of  feathers 
and  the  general  building  up  of  the  hen's  system. 

Each  week  during  a  month,  a  pound  of  the  corn  is  omitted 
and  a  pound  of  linseed  meal  is  added,  thus  making  a  change 
of  four  pounds  in  the  ration  in  four  weeks. 
Then   as  the  new  coat  of  feathers  is  seen 
coming  out  the  variation  is  reversed  until 
the  regular  proportions  are  again  reached.     This  method  of 
making   the    hens    shed  their  feathers   and   grow  their  new 
plumage  before  cold  weather  begins  is  operated  successfully. 
The  birds  get  through  the  molt  quicker  and  with  more  uni- 
formity,  and  enter  winter  in  better  condition  than  if  they 
were  fed  on  the  usual  egg-producing  ration  during  the  molt. 
And  the  great  demand  for  winter  eggs  is  met. 

White  Leghorn  pullets  hatched  early  in  spring  lay  early 
in  the  fall  and  keep  it  up  during  the  winter  without  molting. 
March  and  April  pullets  are  November  layers ;  May  and  June 
pullets  are  December  layers.  It  is  not  an  uncommon  event 
on  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  for  pullets  to  lay  when  about 
4  months  old,  but  this  regarded  as  precocious  and  freakish. 
Pullets  are  not  considered  winter  layers  unless  the  average 
production  of  the  flock  is  33  per  cent., 
that  is,  one  egg  from  each  hen  every 
third    day.     It    is    a    mistake    to    believe     _  __        , 

unreservedly  that  pullets  can  be  real  winter 
layers  at  the  age  of  4  months,   though  the  claim  is  often 
advanced.     Properly   hatched   and   raised,    a   normal   white 


75 


76 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


Leghorn  pullet  on  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  begins  laying 

between    her    fifth    and    sixth    months.     With    heavier    and 

slower  growing  breeds  the  time  must  be  longer. 

There  is  a  small  house  and  yard  on  the  Rancocas  Poultry 

Farm  set  apart  for  the  segregation  of  any  fowls  that  become 

sick  or  injured.     On  a  farm  as  large  as  the  Rancocas  there 

are  occasionally  hens  which  develop  fallen  __ 

x.     i_    1        1  a  1  ,       lhe  Hen  in 

combs,  broken  legs,  etc.     As  a  rule  we  do  __  -   . 

not   advocate   much    doctoring,    for   while 

one  bird  is  being  dosed,  a  dozen  may  catch  the  trouble  if  it 

is   at   all  contagious.     This  is  much    more    expensive    than 

killing  the  birds  which  develop  a  suspicious  weakness. 

Sometimes,  however,  in  the  case  of  a  cold  which  may  lead 
to  a  roupy  condition,  a  cure  is  effected  by  swabbing  the  eyes, 
nose,  and  throat  of  the  afflicted  bird  with  a  feather  dipped  in 
a  20  per  cent,  solution  of  permanganate  of  potash.  In  cases 
of  sneezing  or  snuffling,  a  few  grains  of  permanganate  of 
potash  are  added  to  the  drinking  water,  sufficient  to  turn 
it  to  a  pinkish  tint.     This  usually  helps  the  birds  to  health. 

If  a  flock's  appetite  shows  signs  of  failing,  a  piece  of  cop- 
peras, the  size  of  a  hickory  nut,  may  be  added  to  each  quart 
of  drinking  water.  This  is  the  remedy  usually  employed  on 
the  Farm. 

The  old  saying  "an  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound 

of  cure"  can  nowhere  be  more  fittingly  applied  than  to  poultry. 

Sanitary   conditions,    proper   feeding,    and   eternal   vigilance 

prevent    more    trouble   and    disease    than     _,.       _       J      e 
, "  ,      ,  ,      ,       The  Best  ot 

many  men  and  pounds  ot  cure  can  check.     ff  ,, 

If   the   eyes    and   the   combs   of  hens   are 

brilliant  in  color ;  if  the  birds  are  alert  and  happy,  they  are  in 

good  laying  condition.     This  is  the  best  of  all  "secrets"  for 

selecting  a  healthy  hen  in  condition  to  produce  eggs. 


77 


78 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Why  Artificial  Incubation  Only  Is 
Used  on  the  Rancocas  Farm 


HE  Million  Egg  Farm  maintains  an  incubator 
department,  to  furnish  stock,  to  replenish 
and  increase  its  laying  flocks,  and  also  to 
supply  part  of  the  great  demand  made  on 
it  by  other  poultry  men  wanting  day-old 
chicks.  The  outside  demand  for  day-old 
chicks  was  twice  as  great  during  the  season 
of  1909  as  could  be  met,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  59,380  were  supplied.  Besides  the 
59,380  day-old  chicks  sold  in  this  season, 

30,000  chicks  were  hatched  on  the  Farm,  to  increase  the  egg 

production,   to  replace  stock  sold,   and  to  furnish  breeding 

stock  for  future  sales. 

All  the  hatching  is  done  artificially.     Hens  are  never  used 

to    hatch    or    brood    chicks.     Incubators, 


ever  since  their  invention,  have  contributed 

and    comfort    of 


Incubator 
vs.  the  Hen 


much    to    the    economy 
chicken  raising. 

The  average  broody  hen  is  often  wild  and  unmanageable. 
She  may  have  lice  in  profusion.  If  she  is  bad-tempered,  the 
chicks  become  her  victims.  She  often  leads  them  into  wet 
grass,  thus  stunting  their  growth  or  otherwise  injuring  them. 
And  even  the  best  of  hens  will  sometimes  break  the  eggs, 
leave  them  too  long  or  altogether,  and  become  the  cause  of 
worry  by  reason  of  the  general  uncertainty. 


79 


80 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


With  hen  incubation  there  is  also  the  trouble  of  weaning 
the  chicks  before  the  hen  will  resume  laying.  With  machine 
incubation  there  is  certainty  and  accuracy;  and  a  hen  is  not 
taken  from  her  work  of  laying  eggs.  It  can  always  be  known 
to  within  a  few  hours  when  a  hatch  will  be  completed.  And 
chicks  may  be  had  at  any  time  of  the  year. 

An  incubator  will  do  the  work  of  25  hens;  its  behavior  is 

within    control;   it   never    grows  bad-tem- 

j         -,  .,  t,    i      .        ■.  An  Incubator 

pered ;  and  it  can  be  kept  sanitary. 

Absolutely  certain  results  will  follow  the  „ 
proper  use  of  a  good  incubator  filled  with 
good  eggs.  With  poor  eggs  there  will  be  a  much  smaller 
hatch  in  a  good  machine  than  if  a  poor  machine  and  good  eggs 
are  used.  If  this  were  not  so,  the  hen,  which  is  comparatively 
a  poor  incubating  machine,  could  hatch  but  few  chicks.  The 
use  of  good  eggs  is  a  prime  requisite  of  success. 

Hatching  experience  has  been  peculiarly  wide  and  exhaust- 
ive at  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm.     Incubator  rooms,  under 
various  conditions,  have  been  observed  in 
competition.     During    the    early    part    of  . 

1910  three  incubator  rooms  were  used. 
One  was  almost  entirely  below  the  level  of  the  surrounding 
ground ;  another  was  half  above  and  half  below,  and  the  third 
was  entirely  above  ground.  Several  makes  of  what  may  be 
called  standard  machines  were  operated.  The  first  room 
incubated  5,200  eggs  at  a  time;  the  second,  10,800;  and  the 
third,  16,000.  Two  men  operated  the  machines,  their  hatches 
averaging  68  per  cent,  of  the  total  eggs  put  in.  Fertility  of 
eggs  was  90  per  cent,  or  more. 

The  lesson  of  greatest  importance  learned  from  the  parallel 
operation  of  these  rooms  was  that  best  results  were  secured 
in  a  basement  cellar  about  9  feet  high;  6  feet  being  built 
below  the  surface  of  the  ground;, 

The  reason  is  that  a  properly  arranged  room  in  this  relative 
position  can  be  well  ventilated  and  yet  easily  maintained  at 
a  steady  temperature. 


81 


82 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


In  summer  a  cellar  is  naturally  cooler  than  a  room  above 
ground;  and  in  winter,  warmer.  A  fluctuating  temperature 
is  a  serious  handicap.  Fresh  air  is  vital,  for  it  supplies  oxygen 
to  the  embryos  and  carries  to  them  untainted  moisture. 
Lamp  odors,  or  odors  of  any  kind,  are  extremely  deleterious. 

The  problem  of  how  much  moisture  to  keep  in  the  air  sur- 
rounding the  eggs  is  of  great  importance ;  too  much  moisture, 
by  expanding  the  embryo,  makes  the  chick 
too  large  to  hatch;  too  little  moisture  The  Moisture 
leaves  it  undeveloped.  To  find  the  proper  r  em 
humidity,  experiments  were  made  at  the  farm  in  1907. 
Several  nest  boxes  18  inches  square,  with  8-inch  holes  in  the 
bottom,  were  constructed.  The  holes  covered  with  burlap 
and  the  nests,  filled  with  eggs,  were  placed  under  broody  hens 
borrowed  from  a  neighboring  farm. 

A  hygrometer  was  placed  in  a  tight  drawer  under  the  eggs 
in  each  of  these  experimental  nests,  and  arranged  so  that  it 
could  be  read  easily  at  all  times.  The  nests  were  located 
beside  an  incubator  set  at  the  same  time  and  containing  a 
hygrometer. 

Take  one  of  the  nests  for  example.     A  Plymouth  Rock  hen, 
in  good  setting  condition,  on   15  eggs,  of  which   14  proved 
fertile,   hatched     11    strong    and    healthy 
chicks,     a     percentage     of     73.     Of     the        n 
360   eggs   placed  in   the    incubator    only     Interestin2 
53  per  cent,  hatched.     Of  the  360  eggs  320     Experiment 
were   fertile.     The    hygrometer   under  the  hen  showed  per- 
centages of  humidity,  ranging  from  55  to  60  per  cent,  during 
the  several  stages  of  the  hatch ;  while  the  hygrometer  in  the 
incubating  machine  registered  only  from  36  to  42  per  cent. 
Approximately  the  same  percentages    resulted  in  the  other 
experiments,  proving  conclusively  that  the  ordinary  incuba- 
tors do  not  furnish  enough  moisture. 

Since  these  experiments  were  made  the  percentage  of 
humidity  in  the  incubator  machines  has  been  increased,  with 
the  attainment  of  hatches  averaging,  in  all,  68  per  cent. 


83 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


The  three  incubator  rooms  referred  to   in   the   foregoing 
paragraphs,  which  were  operated  to  ascertain  the  best  method, 
are   now   replaced   by   one   large   basement   under   the   new 
administration  building.     This  basement  is 
3  feet  above  and  6  feet  below  ground.     A 
further  description  will  be  given  when  deal- 
ing   with   the    "Executive    Building."     It 
accommodates  252  incubator   machines,  each  with  400-egg 
capacity.      100,800  eggs  can  be  incubated  there  every  21  days. 
In  its  planning  and  construction  full  advantage  of  past  expe- 
rience was  taken.     It  is  scientifically  kept  at  a  uniform  tem- 
perature.    The  floor,  walls,  and  ceiling  are  concrete,  therefore 
fireproof,  and  being  finished  with  a  smooth  surface  can  be 
washed  clean,  and  thus  maintained  in  a  perfectly  sanitary 
condition. 

At  about  the  time  the  new  incubator  basement  was  begun, 

the  International  Poultry  Sales  Company  brought  out  its  own 

self-humidifying  incubating  machine,  claiming  for  it  decided 

improvement  over  the  incubator  previously 

used,    because    less    labor    and    care    are  . 

required  to  maintain  an  even  temperature;  u 

and  because  it  furnishes  automatically  the 

proper    amount   of    humidity  at  all  times 

13©  vice 

under  all  climatic  conditions.     As  with  a 

caloric  bottle,  or  an  ice-box,  insulation  of  a  substantial  kind  is 
necessary  to  maintain  the  desired  temperature.  Cheap  incu- 
bators usually  lack  proper  insulation;  in  consequence  the 
owner  has  to  devote  more  time  and  use  more  oil,  and  then 
in  the  end  have  a  smaller  hatch.  Putting  fertile  eggs  into  an 
ineffective  incubator  is  like  throwing  good  seed  on  stony 
ground. 

Because  of  the  demand  for  day-old  chicks,  the  incubator 
machines  at  the  MILLION  EGG  FARM  are  started  very  soon 
after  the  beginning  of  the  new  year  in  order  to  supply  the 
demand  from  the  South,  and  they  continue  running  until 
July. 


85 


86 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


Before  the  setting  of  eggs  the  incubator  is  cleaned  and 
thoroughly  disinfected.     Any  soiled  burlap  in  the  trays  is 
replaced  with  new,  it  being  the  operator's 
aim  to  make  everything  about  the  machine  8 

as  clean  as  possible  and  thus  furnish  ,  ^  ¥ 
healthful  conditions  for  the  developing 
embryos.  If  the  incubator  to  be  started  is  new  or  has  not 
been  used  for  some  time,  it  is  operated  with  a  lighted  lamp 
for  three  days  before  the  eggs  are  set.  This  affords  ample 
opportunity  to  adjust  the  thermostat  and  see  that  all  parts  of 
the  machine  are  working  properly.  The  temperature  during 
this  first  trial  operation  is  first  brought  to  103°  F.,  the  disk 
over  the  lamp  heater  then  being  raised  one-fourth  of  an  inch 
and  the  lamp  flame  adjusted  to  reduce  the  temperature  to 
102^°  F.,  where  it  is  kept  steadily.  A  hygrometer,  also,  is 
used  in  this  trial  work,  to  measure  the  humidity,  which  should 
average  60  per  cent. 

The  MILLION  EGG  FARM  recognizes  that  to  operate  an 
incubator  basement  successfully  it  must  have:  first,  eggs  that 
will  hatch;  second,  the  best  possible  equipment  and  condi- 
tions; and  third,  operators  who  are  masters  of  their  branch 
of  the  business. 

Hatchability  of  eggs  involves  several  factors,  chief  of  which 
is   the  vitality  of  parent   stock.     If  the  male   supposed  to 
fertilize  the  egg  germ,  or  the  female  that 
lays    the    eggs,    is    sickly  or   in    any    way        'fV^Tf  y 

deficient  in  vitality  and  ability  to  perform  ^ 

their  natural  functions,  the  eggs  will  not  hatch. 

With  thoroughbred  stock,  well  nourished,  well  cared  for, 
and  properly  mated  the  most  important  conditions  are  ful- 
filled. At  the  Rancocas  Farm  only  eggs  from  stock  of  such 
standard,  and  after  the  hen  has  passed  her  first  year's  laying, 
are  used  for  hatching.  During  a  layer's  pullet  year  she  lays 
one-fourth  more  eggs  than  in  any  following  year,  with  the 
consequence  that  her  vitality  is  taxed  more  than  when  she 
is  laying  fewer  eggs.     A  parallel  case  to  this  may  be  found 


87 


88 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


among  cattle,  where  the  presence  of  tuberculosis  has  been 
traced  to  early  incontinence  and  waste  of  seed. 

From  this  quality  of  eggs  those  selected  for  incubation  are 
medium  in  size,  and  uniform  in  shape,  color,  and  texture  of 
shell.  The  continued  selection  of  these  qualities  in  eggs 
affects  future  generations  accordingly,  besides  increasing  the 
success  of  the  hatch.  The  shape  of  eggs  has  more  to  do  with 
their   hatchability  than  the    color   or  tex- 

ture  of  shell ;  for  the  growing  embryo  must        _    _       — ,  .  . 

4.  u    •  1  at?  -+u     of  the  E&d 

not  be  improperly  imprisoned,     Eggs  with 

smooth    shells    hatch    more    readily   than 

eggs  with  rough  shells,  which  are  uneven  in 

thickness.     If  the  eggs  are  all  of  the  same  size  there  will  be 

no  appreciable  variation  in  the  amount  of  heat  reaching  the 

imprisoned  germs. 

A  hen's  eggs  are  fertile  for  some  days  after  she  has  once 
associated  with  a  male.  Fertility  is  surest  in  spring  and  early 
summer  and  weakest  during  the  molting  period. 

Eggs,  the  shells  of  which  have  been  washed,  are  never  used 

for  hatching.     Washing  removes  the  delicate  film  over  the 

shell  and  permits  an  undesirable  evaporation  of  the  moisture 

within.     Care  is  taken  to  use  only  eggs  in 

J^lever  Wjisii 

their    natural    condition,  and    to    prevent 

any  grease,  oil,  or   other    substance    from  s 

coming  in  contact  with  the  shells  and 
closing  the  pores.  If  the  pores  are  artificially  closed,  no  air 
can  enter  and  the  embryo  will  die.  The  small  air  bubble 
in  each  newly  laid  egg  grows  larger  daily,  whether  in  an 
incubator  or  not.  If  it  were  pricked  the  egg  would  not  hatch. 
Although  eggs  kept  two  weeks  at  a  proper  temperature  and 
turned  daily  to  prevent  the  yolk  from  settling  to  one  side,  will 
hatch,  none  but  newly  laid  eggs  are  used  at  the  Rancocas 
Farm.  The  rapid  evaporation  of  moisture  from  an  egg  is  the 
main  reason  for  setting  it  as  soon  after  being  laid  as  possible. 
As  soon  as  a  fertile  egg  is  cooled  after  leaving  the  hen,  the 
development  of  the  embryo  is  stopped.     That  it  has  the  power 


89 


THE       MILLION        EGG        FARM 


to  resume  development  when  exposed  to  the  proper  heat 
is  one  of  Nature's  wonders;  yet  the  shorter  the  time  this 
life  is  kept  dormant,  the  fewer  chances  of  injury  or  death  it 
experiences. 

Correct  conditions  for  incubation  are  so  complex,  applying 
as  they  do  to  the  undefined  thing  called  life,  that  the  success- 
ful operator  must  study  and  observe  con- 
stantly.     The    men   employed    to    operate 
incubators  at  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm     Question  of 
have     studied     and    practiced    for    years. 
Before  the  self -humidifying  incubator  machines   were  used, 
and  after  it  had  been  demonstrated  that  from  55°  to  60°  F. 
of  humidity  was  necessary  for  the  best   results,  water  was 
sprinkled  on  the  floor  of  the  incubator  rooms  or  placed  in 
buckets    under   the   lamps  to  furnish  the  desired  moisture. 
This  work  is  now  done  automatically  by  the  self-humidifying 
incubators    which    are    used   in    the    place    of   the    old-type 
machines. 

When  the  eggs  have  been  properly  selected  they  are  placed 
on  their  small  ends,  at  an  angle  of  about  20  degrees,  in  the  egg 
trays,  and  set  in  the  machine.     Standing 
the  eggs  on  end   as   above   described  is  a     ^  V. 
valuable  factor  of  which  many  poultrymen 
seem  neglectful  or  ignorant.     It  serves  the  important  pur- 
poses of  establishing  the  egg's  air  cell  in  its  proper  place — the 
large  end  of  the  shell — and  starting  the  embryo  in  a  position 
where  it  is  safest  from  accidents.     A   naturally  imprisoned 
chick  lies  in  the  shell  with  its  head  in  the  large  end. 

With   an  adjustment  of  temperature  not  over   102 J°  F., 
and  an  average  humidity  of  about  60  per  cent.,  the  eggs  are 
incubated  the  first  7  days.     Great  care  is  taken  not  to  over- 
heat the  eggs ;  a  temperature  of  over  103°  F.     r™       p.      , 
during  the  first  three  days  is  likely  to  kill     ^v      h9      C 
some  of  the  germs  by  causing  blood-ring 
or   ruptured   capillaries.    A   reduction  of   temperature  from 
102^°    F.    would    be    much    less    disastrous    at    this    stage 


91 


92 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


than  an  increase.  Nature  seems  to  have  made  provision  for 
this,  as  is  evidenced  when  a  hen  leaves  her  nest  for  several 
hours  and  the  eggs  are  still  successfully  incubated. 

After  the  first  week  of  incubation  the  temperature  is 
increased  to  103°  F.,  and  there  maintained  until  the  chicks 
begin  to  "pip,"  that  is,  to  break  the  shell.  After  the  eleventh 
day  of  incubation  the  chicks  themselves  generate  heat. 

When  the  chicks  begin  to  pip,  which  is  usually  24  hours 
before  the  hatch  is  finished,  the  temperature  in  the  machine 
is  allowed  to  vary  from  103°  to  104i°  F.  This  increased 
heat  outside  the  eggs  incites  the  chicks  to  break  through  to  it. 
The  eggs  are  kept  standing  on  their  small 
ends  the  first  72  hours  they  are  in  the  incu-  . 

bators.     After  this   time   they  are  turned      „       i-a 
twice   each  day,  end  for  end,  in   order  to 
lubricate  the  inside  of  the  shells  and  keep  the  chicks  from 
clinging  to  the  inside  membrane  and  becoming  crippled. 

The  photograph  shows  how  this  turning  is  done.  The 
trays  are  taken  out  of  a  few  machines  at  a  time  and  the 
incubators  closed.  The  front  row  of  eggs  is  moved  to  the 
back  of  the  tray,  and  a  gentle,  sweeping  motion  of  the  hands 
turns  the  eggs.  They  are  then  replaced  in  the  machines  at 
once.  This  is  kept  up  until  the  first  egg  in  a  machine  is 
pipped,  when  the  incubator  is  closed  and  under  no  conditions 
disturbed  until  the  hatch  is  finished. 

Beginning  with  the  seventh  day,  and  continuing  until 
pipping  starts,  when  the  morning  turning  is  done,  the  eggs  are 
kept  out  of  the  incubators  long  enough  to  reduce  their  temper- 
ature to  about  80°  F.,  or  equal  to  that  of  a  normal  man's 
eye  or  cheek.  Two  from  each  tray  are 
held  by  the  operator  to  his  eye,  or  he  rests  , 

his  cheek  on  the  tray  of  eggs.     When  he  „ 

finds    the    eggs    neither    hot    nor    cold   in 
this    test,    the  trays  are  returned    to    the 
machine.     The  operators,  by  practice,  have  become  expert  in 
making  these  tests.     Cooling  is  done  at  the  morning  turning, 


93 


94 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


as  a  closer  watch  can  then  be  kept  upon  the  returning  to 
normal  temperature  of  the  incubator.  The  cooling  of  eggs 
is  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  their  temperature  below  the 
blood  heat  of  the  chicks  so  that  their  circulation  may  be 
stimulated  and  their  vitality  increased.  This  should  not  be 
confused  with  establishing  air  cells  in  the  eggs,  or  with  air- 
ing them. 

Airing  goes  on  24  hours  each  day.  A  good  machine  fur- 
nishes a  continuous  supply  of  air  to  the 
eggs.  This  is  essential  to  the  proper  evap- 
oration of  moisture  from  the  eggs,  and  to 
general  sanitary  conditions,  but  principally 
to  furnish  oxygen  to  the  growing  and  breathing  embryos. 
The  oxygen  reaches  the  embryo  through  the  porous  shell. 

The  moisture  problem  is  closely  connected  with  that  of 
ventilation.  The  hygrometer  is  usually  kept  at  from  55°  F. 
to  60°  F.,  the  latter  being  when  the  chicks  are  coming  out, 
so  that  they  may  be  free  from  shells  or  membranes.  It 
may  be  interesting  to  note  here  the  curious  function  of  the 
tiny  knob  on  the  bill  of  the  unborn  chick.  It  serves  the 
purpose  of  rupturing  the  membrane  as  the  little  bird 
revolves  in  its  shell. 

The  filling  and  cleaning  of  lamps  is  done  in  the  morning, 

immediately  after  the   first   cooling  and  turning  operation. 

If  the  lamps  were  handled  before  the  eggs  were  turned,  some 

of  the    oil  might  get   on   the  eggs,  closing  the  pores  in  the 

shells,  and  resulting  in  disaster.    The  lamps  are  taken  out  of 

their  places  and  put  on  a  corner  of  each     rrii       ^ 

1  ■        ™  ,  ,  Ine  Care 

machine,    the  operator  throws  up  each  cap        r  j 

and  runs   his  fingers  over   the  top  of  the 

wicks  to   remove   the   charred  part.      A  tooth-brush  is  used 

to  clean  the  gauze  screen  and  other  parts  of  carbon  particles. 

Smoking  is  prevented  by  keeping  the  gauze  free  from  dirt. 

The  lamp  is   filled  (only  the   best   grade   of    oil  being  used) 

and  returned  to  its  place,  the  flame  being  adjusted  as  it  was 

before  filling  and  cleaning  the  lamp. 


95 


A  Tray  of  Baby  Chicks 
90 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


The  generally  accepted  rule  to  test  each  setting  of  eggs 
on  their  seventh  and  fourteenth  days  of  incubation  is  not 
adhered  to  on  the  Farm,  the  testing  of  100,000  eggs  twice 
each  hatch  being  expensive  in  time  and  labor.  Experiments 
were  made  to  learn  whether  or  not  one  test  would  be  sufficient. 
From  these  experiments  it  was  found  that 
hatching  results  were  practically  the  same 
when  but  one  test  was  taken,  between  the  _^ 

tenth  and  fourteenth  days  of  incubation.  8 

With  eggs  averaging  less  than  90  per  cent,  fertile,  two  tests 
would,  of  course,  be  desirable  in  order  to  save  the  clear  eggs. 
Testing  is  done  in  a  room  darkened  with  curtains,  or  at  night. 
A  tray  of  eggs  to  be  tested  is  placed  at  the  left  of  the  operator, 
and  an  empty  tray  at  his  right,  the  testing  lamp  being  in 
front  of  him.  The  infertile  eggs,  which  are  clear,  and  the 
eggs  with  dead  germs,  which  show  black  or  with  the  embryos 
surrounded  by  a  blood-ring,  are  discarded.  The  eggs  con- 
taining live  germs  are  passed  to  extra  trays  and  returned  to 
the  machines. 

When  the  chicks  begin  to  pip,  the  humidity  inside  the 
incubator  is  raised  to  60  per  cent.  At  this  stage,  in  natural 
incubation,  a  hen  sweats  heavily  and  swells  p.  .  . 
out  her  feathers,  giving  added  moisture. 
Much  moisture  is  needed  at  this  time  to  soften  the  shells 
and  keep  the  inside  membrane  from  drying  and  adhering  to 
the  chicks.  And  while  struggling  to  get  out  of  the  shells 
they  consume  much  oxygen.  The  door  of  the  machine  is 
never  opened  at  this  period.  If  there  are  any  weaklings  or 
abnormalities  no  outside  help  is  given  them,  it  being  believed 
that  they  pay  better  as  fertilizer  than  as  invalids  requiring 
special  care  and  nursing.  Some  die,  therefore.  Natural 
selection — the  survival  only  of  the  normal,  the  strongest, 
the  fittest — is  clearly  in  evidence  at  this  time  when  the 
individual  is  trying  to  enter  life's  narrow  portal.  Only  the 
normal  in  strength  and  size  can  rotate  in  their  shells  and 
escape  to  life. 


97 


Shipping  Box  Ready  to  Tack  on  the  Muslin 


Showing  Baby  Chicks  in  Shipping  Boxes 

98 


THE       MILLION       EGG        FARM 


Hatching  begins  the  twentieth  day  and  is  usually  over 
within  24  hours. 

As    the    newly  born   chicks    gain   strength    they    struggle 
toward   the  light  and  drop  from  the  tray 
to  the  nursery  at  the  bottom  of  the  incuba-     The  Day-Old 
tors,    where    they   are    kept    24   hours,    at     Chicks 
a  temperature  of  about  95°  F.,  to  dry  off. 

Just  before  emerging  from  their  shells  the  chicks  absorb 
what  remains  of  the  egg  yolk  through  the  navel  cord.  This 
supplies  them  with  nourishment  that  lasts  72  hours.  No 
heavy  food  is  given  to  them  until  the  end  of  this  time.  To 
this  precaution  is  credited  the  freedom  at  this  Farm  from 
white  diarrhea  so  prevalent  on  many  plants. 

Two   things   are   regarded   as   being   of   great   importance 

at  this  time — that  there  be  present  plenty     ji  rpi  .     , 

of  moisture  to  enable  the  chick  to  hatch;     .     *> 

to  Bear   in 
and  that  the  chick  be  properly  and  thor-     *».     i 

oughly  dried  after  it  is  hatched.     A  chick 

1  hour  old,  by  reason  of  the  great  proportion  of  water  in  its 

composition,  weighs  more  than  when  it  is  6  days  old. 

When  the  chicks  are  taken  to  the  brooder  house,  or  shipped 

away,  the  trays  are  moved  from  the  incubators  and  placed 

in  the  sunlight  and  fresh  air.     The  burlap  is  removed  and 

scrubbed  with  a  brush  and  warm  water,  and  put  in  the  air 

to  dry.     The  machine  is  thoroughly  cleansed  and  disinfected 

and  allowed  to  air  24  hours  before  being  used  again. 


99 


Lifting  the  Lamp  Out  of  the  Hover,  Showing  All  the  Inner  Parts 

LOO 


THE       MILLION       EGG        FARM 


CHAPTER  IX 


Descriptive  of  the  Brooding  System 
With  Movable  Hovers 


\ 

1m 

NDOOR  brooding  systems  are  indispensable 
for  raising  chicks  where  there  is  wet  weather 
or  a  climate  in  which  the  temperature  falls 
below  70° .  W ith  birds  of  inherent  s  trength 
and  activity,  a  good  brooding  system,  and 
proper  feeding,  there  is  little  risk  of  failure 
in  the  raising  of  chicks.  But  vitality  of 
constitution  is  most  important,  for  without 
that  no  method  can  succeed.  There  are  no 
mysteries    connected  with   the   raising   of 

chicks.     Every  chick  well-hatched  should  live  and  will  live, 

as    a    rule,    if    kept    dry,    at    reasonable    temperatures,    and 

properly  nourished. 

Poultry  farms  in  the  United  States  employ  various  methods 

of   brooding.     At   the    Rancocas    Poultry   Farm,    while   two 

methods  are  now  in  operation,  the  one  first     _,.  _ 

1  here  Is 

employed  is  being  superseded  and  presently 

but  one  system  will  be  employed.  The 
older  brooding  system  is  operated  in  one 
extensive  building  divided  into  nurseries  and  heated  through- 
out by  hot  water.  The  newer  system  requires  no  special 
and  expensive  brooder  house,  but  permits  the  use  of  regular 
laying  houses  for  the  purpose,  this  saving  the  cost  of  erecting 
and  equipping  a  building  that  can  be  used  during  only  the 
short  brooding  season. 


Really  But 
One  System 


101 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


The  newer  method  replaces  the  hot-water  system  by  indi- 
vidual hovers. 

In  the  Farmers'  Bulletin,  No.  357,  published  by  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  the  author  says: 

"Most  kinds  of  brooders  keep  the  chicks  comfortable,  but 
the  great  difficulty  lies  in  the  lamps  used.  The  lamp  apart- 
ments are  small  and  the  tendency  is  for  the  oil  to  become 
warm  and  form  gases  that  cause  the  flame  to  stream  up  and 
make  trouble." 

The  owners  of  the  new  hover  used  here 

I  rwi  Hnvpr 

have  carried    out  exhaustive    experiments 

to  see  if  the  lamp  could  be  made  overhot  W 

Kiroon  c*i* 

or  likely  to  catch  fire   or  explode.     They 

are  emphatic  in  their  statement  that  these  difficulties  are  now 
overcome. 

The  buildings  used  for  the  brooding  system  with  the  new 
movable  hovers  are  the  standard  100-foot  Rancocas  laying 
houses.  In  preparation  for  a  flock  of  day-old  chicks  from 
the  incubators,  the  movable  equipment  used  for  the  adult 
birds  is  stored  out  of  the  way  and  the  house  thoroughly  cleaned 
and  disinfected.  A  netting  30  inches  high,  of  1-inch  mesh 
wire,  is  placed  at  the  front  edge  of  the  roosting  platform, 
between  it  and  the  floor.  With  the  exception  of  space  for 
the  operator  to  walk,  the  remaining  floor  is  divided  by  3-foot 
wire  netting  into  pens  5  feet  wide  and  9  feet  long. 

As  a  laying  house  is  100  feet  long,  there  is  room  for  20  of 
these  pens.     One  hover  is  placed  in  each  pen,   at  the  end 
nearest    the     passageway.     Also,   in    each 
pen,     are     a     2-quart,     2-piece     drinking  m 

fountain  and  a  feeding  board,  2  feet  long 
and  6  inches  wide,  with   edges   projecting 
up  half  an  inch  all  around.     The   floor  is 
covered  with  an  inch  of  dry  sand,  on  top  of  which  is  an  inch 
and  a  half  of  fine  straw  litter.     Just  outside  of  the  brooder 
house  are  runways,   or  yards,   one  for  each  pen  and  hover. 
They   are    15   feet   long   and   partitioned   with   wire   netting 


103 


104 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


3   feet  high.     Fresh  air,   dryness,   and  sunlight   are  no  less 

important  for  chicks  than  for  layers ;  and  these  conditions  are 

equally  good  in  both  cases. 

The  chicks  are  moved  from  the  incubator  to  the  hovers 

24   hours   after  the   hatch   is   completed,  between   3   and   4 

o'clock   in   the  afternoon.     The   operation 

j  1  -J.V.       11  4.       laking  Care 

is     done     necessarily    with     all     care     to  _  nrin 

keep  them  from  being  chilled.      Each  pen  * 

.,i     .,     ,  ,     ,  Chicks  in 

with   its   hover   is  roomy  enough  to  care 

for  100  chicks  at  a  time,  until  the  chicks 
are  larger  and  well  feathered,  when  they  are  given  more 
liberty.  Each  laying  house,  therefore,  will  hold  2,000  chicks. 
Temporary  boards,  12  inches  high,  are  placed  on  edge  across 
the  pens  near  the  hovers  during  the  first  few  days  of  the 
chicks'  life,  and  moved  back  a  few  inches  each  day  to  educate 
the  chicks  gradually  to  go  to  the  heat  when  they  need  warmth. 

When  the  chicks  are  36  hours  old,  grit  is  sprinkled  on  the 
feeding  boards,  so  that  the  birds  may  fill  their  gizzards 
with  it  and  have  them  in  good  grinding  order  for  the  first 
feeding.  They  occupy  their  time  running  from  under  the 
hovers,  picking  grit,  and  returning.  Four  hours  later  water 
at  a  temperature  of  70°  F.  is  placed  in  the  fountains. 

At  the  age  of  48  hours  the  chicks  are  given  their  first  food — 
rolled  oats,  of  the  common  kind,  bought  in  barrel  quantities. 
The  rolled  oats  are  sprinkled  on  the  feeding  boards  in  small 
pinches  at  intervals  of  2  hours  during  this  and  the  following 
day.       Nothing    else    is    given   the    chicks 
because    they   are   still   partly   nourishing 
themselves  upon  the   yolk    absorbed  from 
the   egg  just    before    hatching.     The    yolk    is    not    entirely 
absorbed   for  4  or   5   days.     The   avoidance  of   heavy  early 
feeding,  as  has  been   said,  is  one  reason  why  the   Rancocas 
Poultry    Farm   is    free    from   white    diarrhea.     After    trying 
several  other  first   feeds,  rolled   oats  were   adopted   because 
they  are  baked  and  partly  digested  before  reaching  the  crop 
of  the  chick. 


105 


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THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


Beginning  with   the   third   day   and   continuing  until   the 
twenty-first  day  of  the  chicks'  life  in  the  brooder  house  a 
chick  food,  composed  of  cracked  grains  such  as  wheat,  oats, 
corn,  millet  seed,  etc.,  is  given  them  four  times  a  day  instead 
of  rolled  oats.     Also,  during  this  period  they  are  furnished 
rolled  oats.     Also,  during  this  period  they 
are  furnished  charcoal  and  grit,   together 
with    a    sprinkling    of    sifted    beef    scrap. 
The  beef  scrap  and  charcoal  are  mixed  in  p 

the  proportions  of  4  to  1.  No  more  is  given  at  a  time  than 
they  will  clean  up  in  10  or  15  minutes — about  a  table- 
spoonful  to   100  chicks. 

Beginning  with  the  seventh  day  about  the  same  quantity 
of  the  finest  oyster  shell  is  also  fed  daily.  The  oyster  shell 
furnishes  lime  needed  for  bone  growth  and  prevents  leg 
weakness.  On  the  eighth  day  the  feeding  of  greens  is  started ; 
cut  clover,  Canadian  peas,  small  field  corn  (cut  before  it 
is  12  inches  high),  lettuce,  mow  scrapings  of  clover  heads, 
or  any  other  similar  green  stuff  that  is  seasonable  and  pro- 
curable. Any  chicks  that  do  not  show  growth  and  activity 
are  immediately  removed,  thus  maintaining  a  high  average 
of  strength  and  vigor  in  the  flock.  Scrupulous  cleanliness 
observed  at  this  time  and  at  all  times,  prevents  trouble  from 
vermin  and  sickness. 

The  first  three  weeks  of  a  chicken's  life  constitute  its  most 
critical  period.  If  it  is  vigorous  and  bright  during  the  fourth 
week  there  is  but  little  reason  to  expect  m 

much  trouble  in  the  future.     This  is  espe-     A.  <-ritlcal 

1   o  i*i  on 

cially  true  on  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm, 

for   nature's    plan  of    "the    survival   of    the    fittest"  is  not 

balked  in  any  way. 

At  the  age  of  three  weeks,  when  they  begin  to  feather  on 
the  wings  and  back,  the  system  of  feeding  chicks  is  again 
changed.  Instead  of  the  chick  food,  mixed  grains  are  given 
3  times  a  day.  The  feeding  of  green  stuff  is  kept  up  as  before. 
The  grain  mixture  is  composed  of  2  parts  of  chick  cracked 


107 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


corn,  2  parts  of  sifted  cracked  wheat,  and  1  part  of  hulled 

oats,    cracked    fine.      The   oyster   shell,    charcoal,    and    beef 

scrap  are  continued  in  quantities  increased  50  per  cent.     If  a 

craving   for   animal   matter   manifests   itself   in   toe-picking, 

or  otherwise,  the  amount  of  beef  scrap  is  increased  still  more. 

As  soon  as  the  chicks  are  grown  so  that  their  sex  may  be 

determined,  the  males  are  put  by  themselves  in  one  end  of 

,     the  house.     This  is  because  it  is  desirable 

at  this  time  to  make  a  difference  in  their 
Pullets  irom        ,.  ,  ,     ,  ,,  ■       t 

rations,  and  to  keep  them  from  annoying 

the  young  pullets.     To  the  pullets,  a  wet 

mash  is  fed  once  a  day.     It  is  made  up  of  the  following: 

1J  parts  bran 

1     part  wheat  middlings 

1    part  corn  meal 

1     part  steamed  clover 

1     part  beef  scrap 

£  part  fine  oyster  shell 

\  part  linseed  meal 

It  is  made  wet  enough  to  be  crumbly,  but  not  mushy. 

To  the  cockerels,  in  addition  to  the  grain  mixture  of  corn, 
wheat,  and  oats,  the  wet  mash  is  given,  with  more  corn  meal. 
Besides  this  increase  of  corn  meal,  the  last  feed  of  the  day 
to  the  cockerels  is  of  corn  alone.  The  beef  scrap  is  fed  in 
smaller  quantities. 

The  cockerels  not  saved  for  breeding  should  be  disposed  of 

as  broilers  as  soon  as  possible.     Under  this  system  they  are 

fat  and  ready  for  market  in  10  weeks,  weighing  a  pound  or 

more  each.     The  pullets  are  held  on  the  hard  ration  to  develop 

their  powers  of  digestion  and  assimilation, 

er*T  that  they  may  be  in  the  best  possible  form 

tixtra     tQ  £uj£i  their  destiny  as   good  layers  and 

Cockerels     breeders      As  the  pullets  and  the  cockerels 

grow  larger,  whole  wheat,  oats,  and  corn 

are  used  in  place  of  the  finer  wheat,  oats,  and  corn,  and  the 

rations  maintained   otherwise  unchanged. 


108 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


When  the  sexes  are  separated,  the  pens  and  runways  are 
removed,  the  hovers  are  stored,  and  the  pullets  have  the 
run  of  the  floor  and  yards.  The  males  being  fattened  for 
broilers  are  kept  in  their  third  of  the  house  until  marketed. 
The  system  of  colonizing  starts  with  2,000  chicks  in  one 
house.  The  number  of  pullets  over  500  or  600  raised,  together 
with  the  surplus  cockerels  not  marketed,  are  removed  to  other 
houses.     The  remaining  birds  stay  in  their  original  colony. 

The  care  of  the  chicks,  besides  feeding  and  hovering,  must 
take  account  of  the  surrounding  temperature.  When  chicks 
in  the  incubators  drop  from  the  hatching  trays  to  the  nursery 
below  they  find  the  temperature  about  95°  F.  They  are 
brought  from  the  incubators  to  the  hovers  a-    a 

into  a  heat  of  from  92°  to  90°  F.,  which  is     brooding 

House 
maintained  the  first  2  weeks.    No  arbitrary 

rule  is  adhered  to,  as  the  heat  temperature 

is    governed    by  the   action   of  the   chicks   and  not  by  the 

mercury  in  the  thermometer. 

If  the  chicks  crowd  to  the  outside  of  the  hover,  panting 
and  breathing  hard,  it  is  an  indication  of  too  much  heat; 
if  they  huddle  and  crowd  about  the  hover  they  need  more 
heat.  The  natural  way  of  applying  warmth  to  chicks  is  on 
their  backs.  In  artificial  brooding,  therefore,  the  heat  is 
supplied  from  overhead.  Experience  teaches  that  bottom 
heat  leads  to  leg  weakness.  When  the  chicks  run  from  and 
to  the  hover,  and  at  night-time  spread  themselves  com- 
fortably under  the  edge  of  the  hover,  with  their  heads  out, 
it  is  a  safe  indication  of  the  right  temperature.  Too  much 
heat  is  more  detrimental  than  not  enough. 

When  the  weather  is  favorable,  chicks  6  days  old  are  let 
into  the  outside  runs,  where  they  enjoy  scratching. 

After  2  weeks  the  temperature  of  the  hovers  is  run  between 
90°  and  88°  F.,  until  the  checks  are  4  weeks  old.  Then  it 
is  maintained  between  86°  and  84°  F.,  for  2  weeks,  after 
which  it  is  reduced  to  82°  F.  and  kept  there  until  the  birds 
no  longer  need  artificial  heat.     When  the   chicks  are   from 


109 


no  ; 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


6  to  8  weeks  old,  depending  on  their  development  and 
weather  conditions,  they  no  longer  need  hovers.  An  out- 
door temperature  of  about  70°  F.  seems  to  be  about  right 
for  birds  after  they  leave  the  nursery. 

Pure,  fresh  air  is  as  essential  as  warmth.     This  is  supplied 
in  connection  with  the  heating  system,  the  hover  creating 
a  constant  gentle  circulation.     Cleanliness 
in    the    pens,    the     hovers,    the    drinking 
fountains,     and     the     feeding     boards     is 

strictly    observed.     Incubator    chicks    are     „  __ 

c        r         ,.  ,      .„  ,  Kept  Llean 

free  from  lice  and  will  remain  so  a  long 

time  if  kept  in  clean  surroundings. 

Before  the  young  birds  have  learned  to  roost  on  perches 
they  lie  down  flat  on  the  straw-covered  floor.  Straw  is 
piled  high  in  the  corners  of  the  room  to     ^  . 

prevent    crowding.     When    they    are    far     _  _.       . 

u  a      1       /  +  +        +1  u        Lar^e  Flocks 

enough  developed  to  roost  on  the  perches         . 

it  is  easy  to  teach  them  the  way.  When 
closing  the  houses  at  night,  a  few  chicks 
are  placed  on  the  perches  and  in  a  short 
time  the  entire  flock  roosts  there. 

The  natural  occurrence  of  surplus  male  birds  in  every 
hatch  makes  it  necessary  for  the  Million  Egg  Farm  to 
market  the  cockerels  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  first  cockerels  are  killed  and  sold  as  squab  broilers 
when  they  weigh  about  1^  pounds  a  pair.  These  are  in 
great  demand  by  epicures.  From  this  time  on  during  the 
summer,  when  the  male  bird  approximates  5  pounds,  they 
are  killed  and  sold  as  the  market  warrants.  In  boxing 
them  for  shipment  a  quantity  of  ice,  sufficient  to  last  2  or  3 
days,  is  included. 

As  particularly  fine-pointed  males  develop  they  are  selected 
and  saved  for  breeding  purposes.  A  thousand  of  these 
cockerels  in  one  house  makes  a  sight  worth  traveling  far 
to  see.  Each  one  is  a  model  rooster — a  miniature  reproduc- 
tion of  the  full-sized  bird. 


112 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


CHAPTER  X 


Executive  Building  of  the  Rancocas 

Poultry  Farm — A  Glimpse  of 

a  Model  Structure 


HIS  building  is  used  for  the  offices  of  the 
International  Poultry  Sales  Company,  and 
for  the  feed-storage  and  incubator  rooms 
and  machinery  of  the  MILLION  EGG 
FARM.  It  is  the  largest  and  most  expen- 
sive structure  on  any  poultry  plant  in  the 
world,  costing  for  con-  pireproof 
struction  and  equipment  ^.  i 
the  sum  of  $50,000. 
It  is  of  approved  fireproof  character 
throughout.  A  fire  destroying  the  MILLION  EGG  FARM'S 
incubator  rooms  would  cause  a  loss  of  thousands  of  dollars  by 
interrupting  a  season's  hatching.  Another  consideration  in 
favor  of  fireproof  construction  is  the  low  cost  of  insurance. 
An  item  of  great  importance  in  any  business  is  cost  of 
supplies.  By  having  large  storage  room  this  farm  can 
accumulate  its  grain  for  feeding  when  prices  are  lowest. 
With  20,000  fowls  to  feed,  a  10  per  cent,  saving  in  the  cost 
of  grain  will  pay  for  the  building  in  ten  years.  As  it  is 
located  in  the  heart  of  the  plant  it  makes  possible  also  a  saving 
in  the  labor  of  handling,  mixing,  and  distributing  the  feed. 
Furthermore,  the  executive  and  clerical  staffs  of  the  business, 
and  needful  supplies  of  all  kinds,  find  excellent  accommoda- 
tion in  its  spacious  rooms.     These  considerations  and  advan- 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


tages  make  the  high  quality  and  large  extent  of  this  building 

an  economy  and  not  an  extravagance. 

The  total  length  of  the  building  is  160  feet,  divided  into 

T         what  is  called  the  Main  Building,  125  feet 
Its 

long,   and  the   western   end,    35  feet  long. 
-Architecture 

The  main  building  is  26  feet  wide,  and  two 

stories  over  a  basement  in  height. 

The  structure  is  heated  with  hot  water  and  ventilated  in 
the  most  approved  manner.  A  sanitary  plumbing  system 
that  meets  all  requirements  is  in  operation.  The  building, 
as  well  as  the  entire  plant,  is  supplied  with  water  from  a 
spring-fed  reservoir  1,000  feet  away. 

The  basement  walls  are  of  concrete  and  the  exterior  walls 
of  a  high  grade  of  brickwork,  coped  with  stone.  The  floor 
and  roof  systems  are  of  reinforced  concrete  and  all  com- 
municating stairways  and  doorways  are  of  standard  metal 
construction.  From  a  pole  on  the  turret  of  the  western  end 
floats  the  flag  of  the  company.  A  mammoth  chanticleer 
surmounts  the  facade  over  the  office  entrance. 

The  basement  under  the  main  building  is  used  entirely 
for  incubation.  In  addition  to  this  capacity  there  is  at  the 
left  end  a  continuation  109  feet  long  and  27  feet  wide,  running 
toward  the  north,  at  a  right  angle  to  the  main  building. 
This  part  of  the  incubator  basement  is  covered  by  a  concrete 
roof  only.  Thus,  room  is  supplied  to 
1  he  Incubator     get    10Q000   eggs    at    once      During   the 

Basement  ,    ,  ,-  ., 

previous    hatching   season   there   was    an 

incubator  capacity  on  the  Farm  of  32,000  eggs,  but  orders 
for  day-old  chicks  were  returned  unfilled  as  early  in  the 
season  as  April,  making  this  enlargement  necessary.  The 
knowledge  regarding  desirable  incubating  conditions  acquired 
in  operating  the  three  cellars  used  previously  has  been  put 
to  good  use  in  designing  this  incubator  room. 

The  basement  of  the  western  end  is  separated  from  the 
incubator  basement  by  a  thick  wall  and  metal  doors.  In 
it  is  a  gasoline  engine  to  pump  water  for  the  elevator  and  to 


114 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


the  tank  on  the  fourth  floor;  and  a  larger  gasoline  engine  to 

operate  the  machinery.      This  larger  engine    is  so  arranged 

that  it  can  be  used  to  pump  water  when  the  smaller  engine 

is  not  working.      Also,    in  this    basement     rpi        p     ,. 

is  a  boiler  to  furnish  hot-water  heating  for     *» 

1     ■-.'-.■  xt  1  •      •  1        Koom 

the  building.    Near  the  exit  is  an  air-tight 

bin  that  holds,  until  it  is  removed  in  wagons,  the  litter  made 
from  cutting  straw,  etc.  A  carpenter's  bench,  table-saw, 
lathe,  anvil,  blacksmith's  forge,  grindstone,  and  other  tools 
complete  the  equipment  of  the  engine  room. 

A  large  elevator  for  passengers  and  freight  runs  from  the 
basement  of  the  western  end  to  the  roof.  This  makes  it 
easy  to  move  feed,  etc.  to  the  proper  floors. 

On  the  first  floor  of  the  western  end  is  placed  the  belt- 
driven   machinery   for   cutting   litter  used   in   packing   eggs 
and  for  chopping  the  green  stuff  fed  each     p    ...     , 
day.      Here    also  is  the  wet-mash  mixing     «      i  . 
machine    and  a   100-gallon   copper  boiling 
kettle  for  steaming  the  clover  or  alfalfa  used  in  the  morn- 
ing mash. 

Around  the  sides  of  this  room  are  bins  containing  the 
mixed  and  unmixed  grains,  from  which  the  feeders  take  the 
rations  fed  to  the  chickens  daily. 

There  are  separate  bins  for  wheat,  barley,  hulled  oats,  and 
cracked  corn;  and  for  the  mixtures  of  wheat  and  barley, 
wheat  and  hulled  oats,  wheat  and  cracked  corn,  and  barley 
and  hulled  oats.  Other  bins  hold  the  proportionate  mixtures 
used  for  the  mash  feeds.  The  buckets  used  by  the  feeders 
are  here  kept  on  racks. 

Outside   of  the  western   end   of  the  building,   on  a  level 
with  the  first  floor,  is  a  loading  platform 
equipped  with  a  mechanical    hoist.     Sup-  fm 

plies  are  received  here  and   taken  to  the  a    orm  ana 

elevator.      Under    the     platform    coal    is 
stored.     In    front    of   the    loading    platform    is    a   platform 
scale  for  weighing  supplies. 


115 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


The  second  floor  of  this  western  end  houses  a  belt-driven 
mixing  machine,  in  which  all  the  grains  and  dry  mashes 
to  be  mixed  are  prepared  and  delivered  through  chutes  to 
the  proper  bins  below.  Here  also  feed  is  stored  in  bags, 
such  as  middlings,  bran,  linseed,  ground  oats,  corn  meal,  etc. 

The  third  floor  above  the  basement  of  the  western  end 

encloses  a  water  tank  of  6,000  gallons  capacity.    This  cannot 

\   \u  *      m     freeze   and   it   supplies   water   for   various 

rp      i    p  uses  throughout  the  Farm.     The  remainder 

of  the  space  in  this  room  is  occupied  by 
empty  egg  cases  and  other  stock  materials  that  should  be 
protected  from  the  outside  weather. 

At  the  eastern  end  of  the  main  building,  on  the  first  floor, 

are  the  quarters  for  the  officers,   clerks,   and  stenographers 

of  the  company.     The  entrance  is  a  lobby 

opening  to  the    bookkeeping    department. 
and  Clerical     At  the  fight  of  the  lobby  ig  the  President>s 

office,  furnished  in  quartered  oak.  The 
Secretary  and  Treasurer  have  a  room  in  the  northeastern 
corner.  These  rooms  are  equipped  with  all  necessary  con- 
veniences, such  as  file  cases,  desks,  telephones,  and  lavatories. 
The  extensive  first-floor  space  between  the  office  quarters 
and  the  western  end  is  arranged  and  used  for  the  storage 
in  bags  of  food  supplies   not   requiring  to  be  mixed;    for  the 

display  of  all  the  products  dealt  in  by  the 
p  Company,    such    as    incubators,    brooders, 

hovers,  and   prepared   foods;   and  also  for 

egg  grading  and  sorting.  A  dark  room  for 
testing  and  candling  market  and  hatching  eggs — to  avoid 
selling  any  with  blood  spots,  etc. — is  here  provided.  Also, 
there  is  a  sink  for  washing  soiled  eggs  before  they  are  sent 
to  market. 

In  one  corner  is  a  locker,  shower  bath,  and  washroom 
for  the  men  employed  on  the  Farm.  The  foreman  of  the 
plant  has  his  office,  equipped  with  a  desk  and  recording  facili- 
ties, on  this  floor. 


116 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


The  second  floor  of  the  main  building  is  used  entirely  for 
the  storage  of  grain  in  large  bulk.  It  is  furnished  with  an 
overhead  carrying  system  that  reaches  from  the  elevator 
shaft  to  the  other  end  of  the  building  and, 
by  switches,  to  the  various  grain  bins. 
There  are  40  bins  in  this  room,  holding 
8,000  to  10,000  bushels  of  grain,  according 
to  the  weight  of  the  different  kinds  of  feed. 


Grain 

Storage 

Quarters 


Chutes  lead  from 


these  bins  to  the  mixing  hoppers  on  the  floor  below. 


117 


118 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


CHAPTER  XI 


Concerning   Profits  Realized  on  the 

Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  for  the 

Season  of  1910 


OWEVER  interested  the  reader  may  have 
been  in  the  history,  methods,  and  products 
of  the  Rancocas  Farm,  there  may  still  lurk 
in  his  mind  a  doubt  concerning  the  relia- 
bility of  the  figures  and  a  question  about 
the  actual  financial  profit  of  such  a  vast 
and  elaborate  experiment.  A  tree  must 
be  judged  by  its  fruits,  and  a  business  by 
its  profits.  Unless  the  large  expenditure 
of  time  and  money  has  brought  an  ade- 
quate return  the  enterprise  will  have  no  interest  for  the 
majority  of  men.  Happily  I  am  in  a  position  to  furnish 
accurate  and  authenticated  figures  on  every  part  of  the  busi- 
ness. The  books  of  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  have  been 
examined  and  audited  by  the  well-known  and  reliable  firm 
of  public  accountants,  Messrs.  Lybrand,  Ross  Brothers,  & 
Montgomery,  Land  Title  Building,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and 
their  names  guarantee  every  financial  item  given  in  this 
volume.  To  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief  this  is  the 
only  poultry  book  that  has  ever  been  published  which  gives 
an  authenticated  statement  of  actual  costs  and  profits. 

In  the  majority  of  poultry  books  the  estimates  of  costs  and 
the  statement  of  profits  are  not  at  all  trustworthy.  The 
writers  place  the  wages  of  their  help  much  too  low  in  order 


119 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


to  show  a  profit.     The  average  wage  paid  on  the  Rancocas 
Poultry  Farm   is   over   $50   a   month.     I   consider  that  the 
successful  operation  of  the  plant  depends  upon  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  men  and  the  interest  which  they  take  in  their 
respective  departments.     We  cannot  hire  the  kind  of  help  we 
require  for  $20  or  $25  a  month.     $250  a  month  is  charged 
for  my  services  alone  and  $100  a  month  is  paid  to  the  foreman. 
Members  of  the  office  force  are  paid  practically  city  wages, 
as  competent  help  in  these  departments  is  absolutely  essential. 
Failure  in  the  poultry  business  has  been  frequently  ascribed 
to  the  high  cost  of  feeding.     The  greatest  expense  we  have  on 
this  plant  is  not  the  feeding,  but  the  general 
costs,  such  as  wages  and  incidental  sundries. 
It  is  likely  that  on  some  plants  the  trouble 
is  not  so  much  that  the  feed  is  too  high,  but 
that  good  feed  is  fed  to  the  birds  with  poor 
judgment  by  the  feeders,  thus  wasting  the  profits  aimed  at.    We 
feed  our  birds  high-priced  grains  by  high-priced  feeders, and  the 
result  is  that  we  obtain  large  returns  in  the  way  of  eggs,  rapid 
maturity,  and  the  maintenance  of  a  high  standard  of  health. 
It  should  be  understood  at  the  outset  that  in  order  to  make 
a  poultry  plant  pay  there  are  other  matters  of  importance 
which  enter  into  the  general  proposition  besides  that  of  rais- 
ing  chickens,  although   necessarily  that  is 
the    prime   essential.     Two   only  need    be 

S  mentioned,  viz.:  the  necessity  of  securing 

prvirp 
an   accessible    and    profitable    market    for 

your  product;  and  also  the  need  of  giving  your  customers 

satisfactory  service. 

Another  item  of  importance  is  your  method  of  advertising 
and  the  cost  of  procuring  customers. 

The  purchase  of  the  best  feed  at  economical  prices  is 
another  factor.  There  is  no  poultry  farm,  whether  large  or 
small,  which  cannot  make  some  satisfactory  arrangement 
with  the  large  feed  houses  to  secure  a  certain  discount  by 
which  the  farm  can  add  to  its  profits. 


120 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


Insurance  is  one  of  the  best  assets  in  which  a  poultry  man 

can  invest.     We  carry  not  less  than  $60,000     T 

,,  ., ,  -,  •         Insurance 

m  the  most  responsible   companies   doing 

business  in  New  Jersey,  insuring  our   houses,  stock,  and  gen- 
eral equipment  all  through  the  plant. 

Of  course,  interest  on  the  investment,  as  well  as  deprecia- 
tion, is  charged  off  each  year. 

Each  feeder  on  the  farm  is  supplied  with  printed  egg  slips, 
showing  the  number  of   houses   under   his  care.     When   he 
makes  the  first  pick-up  in  the  afternoon  he 
puts  down  the  exact  number  of  eggs  col- 
lected    from    each    house    in    the    proper 
column,  and  totals  it ;  and  again  in  the  evening  when  the  final 
pick-up  takes  place.     He  then  adds  the  two  columns  together 
and  turns  his  slip  in  to  the  foreman,  who,  in  turn,  makes  a 
duplicate  of  the  slips  and  gives  the  office  a  summary  of  egg 
product  for  that  day. 

In  addition  to  noting  upon  these  slips  the  number  of  eggs 
gathered,  the  feeder  also  enters  such  comments  as  may  be 
necessary — deaths  (if  any),  general  condition  of  the  birds, 
and  any  suggestions  that  may  occur  to  him.  Of  these  the 
foreman  makes  a  summary  and  sends  it  to  the  office  where  it 
awaits  my  action.  Anything  requiring  attention  is  approved 
and  sent  back  to  the  foreman,  who,  in  turn,  notifies  the  feeder 
of  the  changes  that  may  have  been  author- 
ized.  We  adhere  so  strictly  to  this  method 
that  it  may  be  said  that  not  a  bird  is  allowed 
to  take  a  strange  or  new  step  without  its  being  first  passed  upon 
at  headquarters.  The  clerk  in  the  egg  room  receives  a  copy 
of  the  number  of  eggs  collected  each  day,  and  checks  it  up,  and 
sends  to  the  foreman  a  report  regarding  the  number  of  eggs 
shipped,  and  the  number  left  on  hand,  first  sorting  the  hatch- 
ing eggs  from  the  market  eggs,  and  keeping  a  separate  account 
of  each. 

Advertising,  as  said  before,  is  one  of  the  main  factors  in  the 
business,  and  it  seems  to  be  a  special  gift  to  word  the  pub- 


121 


122 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


licity   material   in   such   a   way  as   to   reach   the    individual 
poultry  man   sought  for  and,  likewise,  to   select   only   such 

publications  as  will  bring  the  best  results.      »  »         , .    .     , 
w    «i       -  •       u-  v,  a  Advertising 

We     key     every  paper  m  which  we  adver- 
tise,  which   enables   us   to   credit   each  with   the  number  of 
inquiries  received  and  the  orders  resulting  therefrom. 

The  method  of  disposing  of  your  eggs  at  the  highest  market 
price  is  one  of  the  cardinal  things  that  will  determine  what 
your  profits  will  be  at  the  end  of  the  season  _      -,--'■ 

or  year.  We  are  the  largest  shippers  of 
strictly  fresh  eggs  to  New  York  City  and  have  no  trouble  to 
secure  proper  parties  to  handle  them.  We  have  tried  catering 
to  the  hotel  trade;  but,  as  a  rule,  hotels  are  so  dilatory,  and 
their  claims  for  breakage  so  exacting,  and  the  custom  of  pay- 
ing the  steward  extra  fees  in  order  to  keep  him  in  good  humor 
is  so  unsatisfactory  (all  of  which  takes  time  and  expense,  even 
though  we  might  be  able  to  get  a  premium  above  the  market 
price)  that  we  have  turned  away  from  this  class  of  trade 
entirely. 

The  selling  of  fresh  eggs  to  retail  stores  is  a  very  satisfactory 
method  of  disposing  of  your  eggs,  provided  you  are  able  to  do 
your  business  with  responsible  parties. 

Owing  to  the  excellent  quality  of  our  eggs  we  have  estab- 
lished in  New  York  City  a  demand  for  them.  They  are  taken 
by  one  or  two  jobbers  who  buy  them  from  our  commission 
merchant,  and  we  find  it  more  satisfactory  to  deal  entirely 
with  one  commission  house  in  New  York  that  is  able  to  dis- 
pose of  the  whole  output  of  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  at  as 
good  prices  in  the  long  run  as  might  be  obtained  if  we  sold  to 
hotels,  restaurants,  and  private  customers.  Because  the  cus- 
tomers of  the  commission  merchant  have  learned  that  Ran- 
cocas eggs  are  strictly  fresh,  and  the  quality  uniform,  the 
dealer  has  no  difficulty  whatever  in  disposing  of  the  eggs- — 
the  demand,  in  fact,  is  far  in  excess  of  the  supply. 

Returns  for  the  sale  of  eggs  are  made  to  us  daily,  and  we 
pay  the  merchant  only  5  per  cent,  commission.     There  is  also 


123 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


a  considerable  saving  in  the  bookkeeping  department,  owing 

to  the  fact  that  we  have  prompt  returns     ^    .    » 

and  no  losses  on  bad  accounts.     Shipping     p    , 

only  to   one   firm  pays   us  better  than   if 

we   were    to   distribute    our  eggs   to   different   parties,   even 

though  we  might  do  so  at  premium  prices. 

No  doubt  a  great  many  shippers  of  fancy  eggs  have  been 
"taken  into  camp"  by  unscrupulous  commission  merchants, 
but  you  will  be  able  to  find  a  large  number  of  reliable  firms 
which  have  been  in  the  business  for  many  years,  and  who  are 
as  responsible  and  trustworthy  as  merchants  in  any  other 
line   of  trade. 

The  irresponsible  dealer  is  generally  found  among  the 
lower  class  of  merchants  who  enter  into  the  commission 
business  for  a  limited  time  only  for  the  purpose  of  defraud- 
ing shippers  whose  names  they  secure  by  following  up 
express  wagons,  then  soliciting  their  trade  by  offering  from 
2  to  4  cents  above  the  prices  others  are  paying.  For  a  while, 
after  they  have  secured  such  trade,  they  make  prompt  pay- 
ments, gradually  becoming  lax,  and  finally  closing  up  entirely, 
whereupon  the  shipper  is  out  of  pocket. 

This  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  we  prefer  to  do  all  of  our 
business  with  one  responsible  firm  of  undoubted  character, 
rather  than  with  a  number  of  houses. 

The  question  may  be  asked  whether  it  is  wiser  to  ship  broil- 
ers  alive   or   dressed.     Our  earlv  broilers,      T  . 

1  1  ,  .       r     '  .  .   '  Live  or 

when  the  market  price  for  them   is   from     ^  j 

^  Dressed 

50  to  60  cents  a  pound,  we  ship  dressed;     t>       .i 
1  t  .,    i  1  ,        Broilers 

but  as  the  season  only  lasts  about  6  weeks 

of  the  year  we  prefer  to  ship  the  larger  portion  of  our  broilers 
(about  three-fourths  of  them)  to  market  alive. 

Below  follows  the  statement  of  the  business  done  by  the 
Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  for  the  season  of  1910,  commencing 
August  1,  1909,  and  ending  July  31,  1910,  as  issued  by  the 
firm  of  Lybrand,  Ross  Brothers,  &  Montgomery,  Public 
Accountants,  Land  Title  Building,  Philadelphia,  Pa.: 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


Income  and  Expenses  for  the  Year  Ending  July  31,  1910 

Income: 

Sales  of  market  eggs $12,721.36 

Sales  of  hatching  eggs 5,103.62 

Sales  of  broilers 200.00 

Sales  of  live  birds 3,208.34 

Sales  of  day-old  chicks 6,446.50 


$27,679.82 
Expenses: 

Advertising $      992.81 

Feeds  of  all  kinds,  viz. : 

Payments  during  year $  9,129.94 


Ada,  unpaid  bins  July  di,  lyiu,  less  esti- 
mated feed  on  hand 

1,000.00 

$10,129.94 

Less  unpaid  bills  August  1,  1909,  included 

in  above  payments,  less  feed  on  hand 

2,585.95 

$  7,543.99 

Expenses 

16,159.19 

$24,695.99 

Excess  of  cash  income  above  expenses 

$2,983.83 

Value  of  pullets  and  cockerels  on  hand  at  end 

of  year  in  addition  to  stock  of  August  1,  1909, 

, 

viz. : 

11.500  pullets,  at  $1.00 

$11,500.00 

2  599  cockerels,  at  $2  25 

5,847.75 

$17,347.75 

Less  allowance  for  birds  sold  (old  stock),  lost 

by  death,  etc. : 

Hens  and  pullets,  723  at  $1.00.     $723.00 

Roosters  and  cockerels,   55  at 

$2.25 123.75 

846.75 

16,501.00 

Total  profit,  not  including  broilers  on  hand.  .  .  . 

$19,484.83 

Average  laying  stock,  7,000  hens. 

Average  profit  per  hen,  $2.78. 

120 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


The  net  profits  divided  by  7,000  laying  hens  show  a  profit  of 
$2.78  per  hen. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  our  statement  shows  the 
actual  earnings  of  7,000  birds  after  deducting  the  cost  of  hiring 
sufficient  help  to  take  care  of  practically  30,000  birds  on  the 
plant  at  the  present  time — stock  that  will  give  us  about 
20,000  layers  at  the  beginning  of  the  new  season.  The  state- 
ment thus  shows  that  we  have  earned  a  profit  of  better  than 
19  per  cent,  on  our  investment  with  only  7,000  layers. 
It  is  well  to  note  that  we  are  coming  into  next  season  with 
nearly  three  times  as  many  layers,  and  our  expense  for  help 
will  not  increase  because  we  have  already  a  sufficient  number 
of  men  to  take  care  of  the  increased  number  of  birds ;  and  the 
increase  in  the  amount  of  feed  that  will  be  required  will  not 
be  over  10  per  cent,  of  the  amount  the  birds  are  now  con- 
suming, so  that  we  shall  be  able  to  show  a  profit  of  50  per  cent, 
or  better  this  coming  year. 

Let  us  add  finally  that  we  have  not  aimed  in  the  preceding 
pages  to  show  what  it  will  cost  to  feed  each  individual  bird, 
owing  to  the  amount  of  bookkeeping  that  would  be  required 
in  order  to  do  so,  but  in  the  following  chapter,  written  for 
beginners,  we  do  specify  what  it  will  cost  to  take  care  of  a  cer- 
tain number  of  fowls. 


127 


128 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


CHAPTER  XII 

Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  Methods 

Laid  Out  for  Beginners  on 

Small  Farms 

HE  question  that  must  have  arisen  in  the 
minds  of  many  readers,  is:  "How  can  I, 
with  small  capital  and  little  experience  to 
invest  at  the  start,  adapt  the  Rancocas 
Poultry  Farm  methods  to  my  own  circum- 
stances?" 

To  answer  this  question,  carefully  worked 
out  plans  are  given  herewith.  These  plans 
are  not  new  and  untried,  for  more  than  a 
score  of  poultry  men  have  put  them  into 
practice  during  the  last  two  years,  with  uniform  success. 
When  good  methods  of  egg  farming  fail,  it  is  because  they 
are  not  understood  and  backed  by  sufficient  effort  and  capital 
to  stand  the  strain  of  paying  "dumb  tax."  Almost  all  egg 
farmers  get  a  good  profit  today.  This  was  not  the  case  a  few 
years  ago,  because  of  crude  methods  and  ideas.  But  there  is  a 
wide  difference  between  the  margins  of  profit  various  poultry 
men  earn.  To  be  thoroughly  successful  is  to  get  the  greatest 
possible  percentage  of  profit.  This  means  having  the  best 
stock  and  using  the  best  system  and  methods.  These  plans 
and  estimates  are  based  on  Rancocas  standards  of  stock, 
equipment,  and  methods. 

In  none  of  the  plans  is  the  cost  of  land  figured,  it  being 
assumed  that  the  beginner  already  owns  some  property.     To 


129 


THE       MILLION       EGG        FARM 


the  man  or  woman  with  less  than  $100  to  invest  no  special 
plan  is  given,  for  in  such  cases  it  is  easy  to  deduce  from  the 
other  plans. 

For  the  person  with  some  spare  time  and  $500  to  invest  in 
the  egg-farming  business,  and  an  income  to  meet  his  personal 
needs  for  a  time,  we  give  a  plan  of  the  building  and  other 
equipment  required,  and  the  results  he  should  have  in  a  year. 

The  person  with  $1,000  to  invest,  and  $500  additional  for 
living  expenses,  is  dealt  with  next. 

The  man  or  woman  who  wants  to  install  and  equip  a  $2,500 
plant,  and  has  $500  to  live  on,  is  then  considered. 

To  those  able  to  start  with  an  investment  of  over  $5,000 
no  better  plan  can  be  suggested  than  that  actually  worked 
by  the  MILLION  EGG  FARM.  An  investment  of  $5,000 
or  more  ought  to  bring  its  owner  much  greater  profit  than 
it  did  in  the  early  days  of  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm, 
for  expensive  lessons  have  been  learned  and  paid  for  in 
the    mistakes   and    experiments    there    made. 

With  $500  to  invest  and  an  ordinary  amount  of  spare  time 

to  give  to  the  egg-farming  avocation,  you  can  earn  a  dividend 

of  65  per  cent,  for  yourself  the  first  season. 

A  plot  of  ground  of  about  half  an  acre  in 

extent  is   needed.     The   first  expenditures 

are  for  the  chicken  house  and  equipment. 

If  built  according  to  the  plans  and  specifications  herewith 

given  the  house  will  cost  $300. 

All  concrete  is  to  be  made  in  the  proportion  of  1  part  cement 

to  6  parts  clean  sharp  gravel.     Foundation  walls  to  be  6  inches 

^  .        thick.     The  ground,  if  sand,  is  to  be  leveled 

Concrete  & 

off  over  the  entire  floor  area  of  the  building 

and  covered  with  a  damp-proof  layer  of  two-ply  tar  paper 
over  which  is  to  be  laid  a  concrete  floor  2^  inches  thick  and 
at  such  a  level  that  the  surface  of  the  floor  will  be  1  inch 
below  the  top  of  the  wood  sill.  (In  case  the  building  is  to 
be  erected  on  a  soil  other  than  sand  or  gravel,  the  foundation 
wall    should   extend   below   frost   level   and   the   floor  space 


130 


THE       MILLION       EGG        FARM 


be  prepared  to  receive  the  concrete  and  damp-proofing  by 

excavating  the  soil  and  then  filling  in  with  8  inches  of  cinders, 

or  gravel.) 

The   framing   timber   and   sheathing   are   to   be   hemlock. 

Sills  2  inches  by  6  inches;  studding  2  inches  by  4  inches; 

plate  2  inches  by  4  inches ;  rafters  2  inches     j         i 

by    6    inches    spaced    2    feet    on    centers. 

Perches  2  inches  by  3  inches.     Siding  is  to  be  of  white  pine 

or  cedar  with  a  lap  of  at  least  1  inch.     Doors  to  be  made 

of   1-inch   tongued-and-grooved  white   pine    boards   with   an 

8-inch  face,  well  battened  and  braced.     The  dropping  board 

is  to  be  of  1-inch  tongued-and-grooved    yellow  pine  boards 

secret -nailed.     One  thickness  of  two-ply  tar  paper  is  to  be 

placed  under  the  siding  on  the   north  wall  of  the  building. 

The  wall  behind  the  perches  from  dropping  board  to  roof  is 

to  be  sheathed  with  tongued-and-grooved  boards.     The  sills 

are  to  be  secured  to  the  foundation  walls  by   12-inch  bolts, 

built  into  the  wall  during  its  construction,     ^v 

Wire  screens  are  to  be  put  over  the  bot-     c 

^  Screens 

torn  sash  of  all  windows  and  over  all  the 

muslin  screen  openings.     The  screens  are  to  be  hinged  where 
so  noted  on  drawings. 

The  roof  sheathing  is  to  be  covered  with  heavy  two-ply 
roofing  felt,  well  lapped  and  securely  nailed,  and  mopped  with 
pitch.     Over  this  is  to  be  spread  a  heavy     R       ~.     , 
coating  of  pitch  and  slag. 

Eight  feet  at  one  end  of  this  house  is  designed  for  a  feed 
storage  room.  Arranging  the  remainder  upon  a  proportionate 
scale,  constructing  pens,  and  furnishing  it  with  hovers,  as 
described  under  the  heading  "  Brooder  System  with  Movable 
Hovers,"  on  the  foregoing  pages,  you  will  be  able  to  install 
500  April-hatched  chicks. 

These  chicks,  at  13-j-  cents  each,  plus  expressage  of  $2  for 
the  lot,  will  cost  $69.50.  Five  hovers,  five  drinking  foun- 
tains, a  spraying  pump,  shovels,  feed  buckets,  etc.,  can  be 
bought  for  about 


131 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


Eighty  per  cent,  of  the  chicks  should  survive  and  be 
healthy  when  they  are  3  months  old.  This  will  give  you, 
in  July,  a  flock  of  200  pullets  and  200  cockerels.  Selling 
190  of  the  cockerels  for  broilers  and  reserving  10  for  mating 
purposes,  leaves  you  210  birds  to  be  cared  for  in  the  788  square 
feet  of  floor  space  in  the  house — (588  square  feet  of  floor; 
168  square  feet  of  platform;  and  32  square  feet  of  nests). 

A__  This  is  a  little  more  than  3^  square  feet  of 

i      .  space  for  each   fowl.     Selling  the  surplus 

cu  a  l  cockerels  at  this  time  not  only  gives  you 

more  room,  but  cuts  the  feed  bill,  and  brings  your  first 
income.  At  this  age  the  cockerels  will  bring  about  30  cents 
each,  or  $57  in  all. 

The  cost  of  feed,  oil,  litter,  etc.,  for  rearing  the  400  birds 

to  the  age  of  3  months  is  6  cents  each  a 
Cost:     month;  or  a  total  of  |72. 
Cents         After  the  firgt  of  july)  the  210  remaining 

birds,   with  their  increased  size,   will   cost 
a  Month     1Q  cents  each  a  month  to  feed     By  October 

these  April-hatched  pullets  should  be  laying  well.  They  will 
not  molt  or  stop  laying  until  the  last  of  the  following  August, 
by  which  time  the  flock  will  have  averaged  144  eggs  a  pullet 
for  the  12  months,  or  12  eggs  a  month.  This  is  a  low  average 
for  the  Rancocas  strain  of  S.  C.  white  Leghorns,  when  they  are 
kept  in  so  small  a  flock.  An  average  market  price  of  3  cents 
an  egg  yields  36  cents  a  pullet  each  month,  or  $72  for  the 
flock.  The  cost  of  feeding  for  the  month  is  $21.  There  is 
a  profit,  therefore,  of  $51  a  month  for  12  months,  over  the 
cost  of  feeding. 

Marketing  the   210  birds   in  August,   at  which  time  they 
_      „        will    bringr    the    highest    prices,    after   the 

IT  a         \j\  P  •  A.  °  OX' 

tt RO  5,  pullets  stop  laying  will  give  a  meat  profit 

ot  bO  Cents     of  6Q  centg  each;  Qr  |126      In  the  following 

a  iic  statement,  the  business  is  debited  with  the 
cost  of  insuring  the  building,  equipment,  and  the  stock  and 
with  interest  on  the  investment  of  $500. 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


The  estimates  upon  which  the  statement  is  based  are  con- 
servative throughout.  While  the  percentage  of  profit  is 
figured  on  the  total  of  the  season's  expenses,  the  actual 
greatest  amount  invested  at  one  time  is  only  $502.50.  By- 
building  up  a  private  trade  there  is  no  doubt  you  could  get 
an  average  yearly  price  of  4  cents,  or  more,  an  egg,  which 
would  add  $172.80  to  your  earnings.  Also,  there  are 
possibilities  of  selling  some  of  the  surplus  cockerels  for 
much  more  than  30  cents  each;  of  selling,  moreover, 
hatching  eggs  instead  of  market  eggs — and  so  on  indefi- 
nitely. No  one  following  the  methods  outlined  in  this  book 
will  fail  to  get  a  good  profit  the  first  year  and  a  larger  profit 
the  next  year. 


Credit 


April,  May,  June 

Debit 

House  and  yarding 

$300.00 

500  day-old  chicks,  at  13£ 

cents 

67.50 

Expressage  on  chicks 

2.00 

5  hovers,  at  $8.00 

40.00 

5    drinking    fountains,    at 

40  cents 

2  00 

Spraying     pump,     shovel, 

bucket 

10.00 

Feed,  400  chicks,  3  months, 

at  6  cents  per  month .  .  . 

72.00 

Interest    and    insurance,  3 

months 

9.00 

Total 

$502.50 

July  to  August  Next  Year,  14  Months 
Feed,  210  birds,  14  months  190     cockerels,     at     30 

at  10  cents $294.00  cents $  57.00 

Interest  and  insurance,  at  28,800  eggs  (200  pullets 

$3.00  per  month 42.00  144  eggs  each) 864.00 

210  birds  marketed    at 

60  cents 126.00 


Total  expenses $838.50     Total  receipts $1,047.00 


133 


THE       MILLION        EGG        FARM 


Summary  at  End  of  Season 

Total  cash  receipts $1,047.00 

Total  cash  expense 838.50 

Cash  on  hand $208.50 

House  and  equipment  (less  5%  depreciation) .  .  .         334.40 

Total  assets  of  business $542.90 

Profit 65% 

Repeating  this  business  the  next  season,  beginning  the 
following  April,  you  would  need  a  cash  capital  of  only  $175, 
and  that  only  the  first  6  months.  Your  cash  receipts  would 
be  $1,047  as  before,  but  your  expenses  only  $497  (including 
$10.50  interest  and  insurance  on  the  building  the  7  months 
it  contains  no  chickens),  leaving  you  with  $550  cash  and  your 
house  and  equipment  (now  valued  at  $317),  when  your  birds 
are  sold  for  meat.  The  percentage  of  profit  on  this  second 
season's  business  is  180  per  cent.  The  third,  fourth,  fifth,  etc. 
seasons  worked  on  this  plan  would  each  give  the  same  profit 
as  the  second. 

By  putting  part  of  this  cash  profit  of  the  second  season  into 
additional  building  and  equipment  there  would  be  room  to 
care  for  the  second  instalment  of  young  chickens  at  the  same 
time  the  pullets  are  laying,  thus  avoiding  the  idleness  of 
7  months  after  the  previous  flock's  season  is  over.  For 
instance,  starting  in  business  with  day-old  chicks,  in  April, 
1911,  you  would  have  eggs  in  October,  and  in  the  following 
11  months,  which  brings  the  time  up  to  September,  1912, 
when  the  flock  shall  be  marketed.  Then,  unless  you  had 
additional  room  and  had  started  with  another  flock  in  April, 
5  months  previously,  you  would  have  no  room  for  the  new 
flock  until  after  the  September  killing.  And  this  means 
waiting  from  September,  1912,  to  April,  1913,  for  the  next 
proper  starting  season.  Therefore,  by  using  part  of  your 
second  season's  earnings  to  increase  your  plant  you  can  make 
each  subsequent  season  overlap  the  previous  season;  and  do 
a  business  every   12  months  that,   including  the   7  months 


Ki4 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


between  the  time  of  killing  (September)  and  the  time  of 
starting  with  a  new  flock  (April),  otherwise  would  consume 
24  months.  Your  profits  then  would  be  $550  every  12  months 
instead  of  every  season. 

Instead  of  starting  in  business  with  day-old  chicks,  you  can 
start  with  an  incubator  and  eggs.    A  400-egg  capacity  machine 
costs  $38  and  hatching  eggs  7  cents  each.     ^ 
By  setting  the  machine  twice  you  would,     y 
very    conservatively    estimated,    get    500     j         a     j 
chicks  from  the  800  eggs.     The  cost  of  800 
hatching  eggs  is  $56.     The  cost  of  oil  for  heating  the  machine 
is  half  a  cent  an  egg,  or  $4  for  the  two  hatches.     To  get  the 
chicks  in  hand  there  would  be  an  investment,  therefore,  of 
$98  the  first  year  instead  of  $69.50  for  which  the  chicks  could 
be   bought.     Also,   6   weeks'   time   would   be   consumed,  in 
addition   to    the   slightly  increased    interest    and    insurance 
charges. 

The  advantages  in  the  long  run  of  starting  with  an  in- 
cubator are  greater  than  the  disadvantages,  in  that  while  you 
have  the  initial  expense  of  $38  for  the  machine,  it  is  but 
once  and  you  are  independent  of  others  for  chicks,  being  in 
a  position  even  to  sell  some  chicks  at  13^  cents  each,  instead 
of  the  eggs  at  3  cents. 

Also,  by  enlarging  the  plant  after  the  first  season — whether 

starting  with  day-old  chicks,  or  with  hatching  eggs — instead 

of  marketing  all  the  birds  at  the  end  of  their  pullet  year, 

two-thirds  of  them  will  be  worth  selecting     v        «• 
iiii-  i-  ™  i  oil  Have 

and  holding  over  as  yearling  layers.    These     *u     v        I'd 

may  be  depended  on  to  yield  120  eggs  each,  j 
a  year.  The  additional  cost  of  keeping  over 
these  130  yearlings  will  be  but  10  cents  each  a  month,  during 
the  3  months  of  their  molt.  Thus  a  saving  in  the  cost  of 
day-old  chicks,  or  hatching  eggs,  and  in  the  expense  of  the 
first  3  months'  rearing  will  be  effected.  The  eggs  from  the 
yearling  hens  will  be  worth  50  per  cent,  more  for  hatching 
than  those  from  pullets. 


135  10 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


With  $1,000  to  invest  in  the  egg-farming  business,   and 

Wh    t  Y  $500  additional  for  living  expenses  the  first 

p        pw        season,  you  can  earn  81  per  cent,  in  return 

W'tti   mi  OOO     ^or  y°ur  la-bor  and  the  use  of  your  capital. 

About  an  acre  of  ground  is  needed;  and  a 

chicken  house,  according  to  previous  specifications  and  the 

following  plan. 

This  85-foot  house  contains  a  10-foot  feed  room  and  floor 
space  enough  for  400  adult  birds.  Starting  with  1,000 
day-old  chicks  at  13  cents  each,  in  10  pens,  each  equipped 
with  movable  hovers,  etc.,  there  would  be  expense  of  $228, 
as  shown  by  the  following  account.  Raising  80  per  cent. 
of  the  chicks  to  the  age  of  3  months  would  give  you  400 
pullets  and  400  cockerels,  at  a  further  cost  of  $144  for 
feed  (6  cents  each,  a  month).  Interest  and  insurance  for 
the  three  months  would  amount  to  $15.  Selling  380  of 
the  cockerels  would  bring  $114  and  leave  you  a  flock  of 
400  pullets  and  20  cockerels  to  grow  to  full  maturity  and 
remain  14  months  longer  in  the  house,  at  a  monthly  expense 
of  10  cents  each  for  feed,  or  a  total  of  $558.  By  the  end 
of  the  14  months,  these  400  pullets  will  have  laid  during  12 
months  144  eggs  each.  At  3  cents  apiece  the  income  from 
eggs  would  be  $1,728.  Marketing  the  flock  at  the  end  of 
this  season  would  return  $252. 

Including  interest  and  insurance  at  the  rate  of  $5  a 
month,  the  first  season's  business  will  have  cost  you  $1,445; 
and  you  will  have  taken  in  $2,094,  leaving  you  cash  in  hand 
to  the  amount  of  $649  and  a  building  and  equipment 
valued  at  $470. 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


Credit 


A 

pril,  May,  June 

Debit 

$400.00 

1,000  day-old  chicks,  at 

13  cents 

130.00 

Express  on  day-old  chicks 

4.00 

10  hovers,  at  $8.00 

S0.00 

10  drinking  fountains,  at 

40  cents 

4.00 

Spraying    pump,  shovel, 

bucket,  etc 

10.00 

Feed  800  chicks,  3  months, 

at  18  cents 

144.00 

Interest    and    insurance, 

3  months . .         

15.00 

Total 

$787.00 

July  Through  Second  Following  August 
Feed,      420      birds,      14  3S0    cockerels,    at     30 

months,  at  10  cents .  . .     $588.00         cents $  114.00 

Interest    and     insurance  57,600  eggs  (400  pullets, 

14  months,  at   $5.00  a  144  eggs  each) 1,728.00 

month 70.00     420  birds  marketed,  at 

60  cents 252.00 


Total  expenses $1,445.00  Totaf  receipts $2,094  00 

Summary  at  End  of  Season 

Total  cash  receipts $2,094.00 

Total  expenses 1,445.00 


Cash  in  hand 649.00 

House  and  equipment  (less  5%  depreciation) .  .  .         470.00 


$1,119.00 
Profit 78% 

While  your  total  expense  for  the  season  is  $1,445,  yet 
the  greatest  amount  invested  any  month  is  less  than  $800. 
Figuring  your  time  worth  $60  a  month  you  would  have  a 
personal  credit  of  $1,020  for  the  season  of  17  months.  But 
only  a  fraction  of  your  time  can  fairly  be  charged  against 


137 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


your  chicken  business  because  there  will  be  many  hours  each 
day  that  you  can  devote  to  gardening  and  the  care  of  your 
home.  Sixty  dollars  a  month  for  living  on  a  farm  such  as 
this  would  be,  is  equivalent  to  a  $90-a-month  living  in  a  city. 

For  the  second  season  you  would  need  in  the  business 
less  than  $400  cash.  Your  receipts  would  be  the  same  as 
before  and  your  expenses  only  $951,  leaving  a  profit  of 
$1,143  cash  and  the  house  and  equipment  valued  at  $447, 

F      h  Y  which  is  167  per  cent,  gain  at  the  end  of  the 

j,  e-i  second  season.    Following  seasons  would  be 

It  brows       1  & 

l>    ..  the  same.      For  the  reasons,  therefore,  as 

explained  in  the  case  of  the  man  with 
$500  in  hand,  it  would  be  wise  for  you  to  invest  in  addi- 
tional buildings  and  equipment  part  of  the  cash  yielded  at 
the  end  of  the  second  season.  Your  profits  would  be,  then, 
$1,143  every  12  months  instead  of  every  24  months. 

With  a  cash  capital  of  $2,500  to  carry  you  through  the  first 

WVi    t  Y  season   in    the    egg-farming   business,   and 

C        Tin     $500  additional  for  other  expenses,  you  can 

W"#h  *R2  ^Ort     have  a  thousand  layers  the  first  year.    The 

building    required    is    225    feet    long    and 

costs  $1,400.     Three  acres  of  yard  for  the  fowls  are  needed. 

As  is  clearly  shown  in  the  plan,  the  building  is  divided 
by  a  feed  room  into  two  100-foot  wings. 

To  equip  this  plant  with  1,000  adult  pullets  you  will  need 
to  start  with  2,500  day-old  chicks,  which  can  be  bought 
for  $335.  The  twenty  movable  hovers,  fountains,  etc.  will 
cost  $178.  Bringing  80  per  cent,  of  the  chicks  to  the  age 
of  3  months,  you  will  have  1,000  pullets  and  1,000  cockerels 
at  a  cost  for  feeding,  heating,  etc.  of  $360.  Interest  and 
insurance  amounts  to  $45  for  the  3  months.  Selling  950 
cockerels  for  broilers  will  bring  $285  and  leave  you  50  cockerels 
to  mate  with  the  1,000  pullets.  To  maintain  these  1,050 
birds  14  months,  which  brings  them  through  the  laying 
season,  will  cost  $1,470  for  feed,  with  the  addition  of  $210 
for   insurance    on    equipment    and    interest    on    investment. 


138 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


At  the  end  of  the  laying  season  the  selling  of  the  1,050  birds 
for  meat  adds  $630  to  your  receipts. 

In  the  meantime,  you  will  have  gathered  144,000  eggs  to 
sell  for  3  cents  each,  or  $4,320.  The  total  of  expenses  is 
$3,998  and  the  total  of  receipts  $5,235.  The  cash  on  hand 
amounts  to  $1,237,  besides  which  you  have  the  building  and 
equipment  worth  $1,500. 

April,  May,  June 
Debit  Credit 

House  and  yarding $1 ,400.00 

2.500  day-old   chicks,  at 

13  cents 325.00 

Express 10.00 

Twenty  hovers,  at  $8.00  160.00 

Twenty    drinking     foun- 
tains, at  40  cents....  8.00 

Pump,  shovel,  buckets.  .  10.00 

Feed,     2,000     chicks,     3 

months,  at  18  cents...  360.00 

Interest  and  insurance.  . .  45.00 


$2,318.00 
July  Through  the  Second  Following  August 

Feed     1,050     birds,     14  950     cockerels,     at     30 

months,  at  10  cents.  .  .$1,470.00         cents $    285.00 

Interest    and     insurance  1,050    birds    marketed, 

at    $15    a   month,     14  at  60  cents 630.00 

months 210.00  144,000  eggs  at  3  cents  .    4,320.00 

$3,998.00  $5,235.00 

Summary  at  End  of  Season 

Total  cash  receipts $5,235.00 

Total  cash  expenses 3,998.00 

Cash  in  hand 1,237.00 

House  and  equipment  (less  5%  depreciation).  .  .      1,500.00 

Total  assets  of  business $2,737.00 

Profit 68% 


139 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


The  percentage  of  profit  is  figured  from  the  total  expenses 
of  the  season  and  the  assets.  If  it  were  based  on  the  largest 
actual  amount  of  money  invested  any  one  month  ($2,318), 
which  is  in  reality  the  amount  of  capital  invested,  the  per- 
centage figure  would  be  118.  The  difference  between  $3,998 
and  $2,318  is  allowed  in  order  to  give  a  wide  margin  of  safety 
in  the  estimates  and  plans. 

As  was  said  in  the  previous  case,  if  you  figure  your  time 

and  labor  to  be  worth  $60  a  month  you  will  have  a  personal 

charge  against  the  business  of  $1,020  for 

.  the    season    of    17   months.     But,    at    any 

Vr  rate,    you    will    have    made    your    capital 

and  labor  pay  you  back  $2,737  and  will 

doubtless   have   secured  much  of  your  living  from   part   of 

your  labor  at  the  same  time. 

The  second  season  will  require  no  new  investment  for 
building  and  equipment,  so  your  expenses  will  be  $1,500 
less,  and  your  receipts  the  same,  with  a  cash  profit  of  about 
$2,800.  The  equipment  still  remaining  will  make  the  business 
worth  $4,300  the  second  and  each  following  season,  which 
is  equivalent  to  a  profit  of  over  150%. 

Putting  back  into  the  plant  part  of  your  second  season's 
earnings,  in  order  to  have  room  to  start  the  following  season's  / 
flocks,  while  the  previous  flocks  are  laying,  will  make  your 
profit  come  every  12  months,  instead  of  every  24  months, 
as  is  explained  under  "What  you  can  do  for  $500." 

Also,  as  has  been  shown,  instead  of  killing  off  all  the  pullets 
before  they  molt,  the  best  ones  can  be  retained  profitably  for 
the  next  season,  if  you  have  additional  room. 

With  a  plant  of  this  size  there  is,  perhaps,  more  economy 
and  convenience  to  be  had  from  incubating  for  yourself 
instead  of  buying  chicks,  than  with  smaller  plants.  Five 
400-egg  incubators,  set  twice,  would  give  you  2,500  chicks, 
at  a  total  cost  of  $410,  and  pay  for  the  machines. 

As  previously  stated,  the  figures  quoted  in  this  chapter, 
under   the    various    plans    outlined,    are    very    conservative, 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


both  with  respect  to  the  amount  of  capital  to  be  invested 
and  the  profits  to  be  derived. 

The  chicken  business  today  is  a  safer  venture  for  sure 
returns  than  90  per  cent,  of  other  lines  of  business  in  which 
to  invest  your  money.  Your  profits  are  not  affected  by 
general  business  depression,  for  all  poultry  products  have 
steadily  advanced  in  the  past  eight  years,  independent  of 
general  business  conditions. 

Rancocas  methods  have  succeeded  on  this  and  many  other 
smaller  plants,  and  are  a  guaranty  of  your  success  if  strictly 
adhered  to. 


142 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


Letter  From  Joel  M.  Foster 

Founder  of  the  Rancocas   Poultry  Farm  and   President 
of  the  International  Poultry  Sales  Company 

on    the    Particular    Advantages    of    the 
I.  C.  S.  Poultry  Farming  Courses 


To  Readers  of  the  Million  Egg  Farm  Book  : 

The  particular  value  of  the  I.  C.  S.  Poultry  Farming  Courses 
over  all  textbooks  written  on  the  subject  is  in  the  method 
employed  to  make  the  student  center  his  mind  and  actually 
learn.     It  is  this  peculiar  and  wonderfully     _.      _    „    „ 
effective  system  that  is  responsible  for  the     „ 
hundreds  of  letters  sent  to  the  I.  C.  S.  every     __   .  , 

month    telling    of    positions    bettered    and     „       ,  „ 

earnings  increased  through  study  of  I.  C.  S.  , 

Courses.     The  student  of  an  I.  C.  S.  Poultry     ~  , 

Farming  Course  will  be  able  to  apply  the 
things  he  has  learned — to  make  his  knowledge  show  in  results. 
This  is  the  crowning  merit  of  the  I.  C.  S.  system. 

Probably  you  have  found  this  book  both  entertaining  and 
instructive.  But  the  fact  remains  that  neither  the  mere 
reading  of  this  book,  nor  the  mere  reading  of  any  book  on  any 
trade  or  occupation,  will  give  to  the  reader  that  thorough 
understanding  of  the  subject  he  must  have  to  become  expert 
in  it. 

This  is  because  books  are  not,  as  a  rule,  read  with  the  con- 
centration of  mind  necessary  to  the  thorough  mastering  of  a 
technical  subject. 

The  wonderful  success  of  the  I.  C.  S.  in  teaching  technical 
subjects  is- because  of  the  system  to  compel  the  student  to  so 
concentrate  his  attention  as  to  understand  what  he  reads  and 


143 


THE       MILLION       EGG       FARM 


make  it  a  part  of  himself.  The  student  of  an  I.  C.  S.  Course 
gains  not  only  a  general  knowledge  of  the  subject  he  is  study- 
ing; he  gets  a  detailed  knowledge  of  it  that  enables  him  to 
apply  in  e very-day  work  its  principles  and  practices. 

The  I.  C.  S.  system,  developed  through  nearly  twenty  years 
of  successful  teaching  by  correspondence,  concentrates  the 
attention  of  the  student  by  presenting  to  him  just  one  phase 
of  the  subject  at  a  time  and  compelling  him  to  write  out  answers 
to  a  series  of  questions  arranged  to  cover  thoroughly  the  mat- 
ter he  has  studied.  When  a  student  has  mastered  a  paper  so 
as  to  be  able  to  get  a  percentage  of  90  from  his  instructors, 
he  has  necessarily  so  learned  what  he  has  studied  as  to  be 
able  to  put  it  into  actual  practice.  His  mind  has  gripped 
the  facts  and  will  not  lose  them. 

All  I.  C.  S.  Courses  are  easy  to  learn,  easy  to  remember,  and 

easy  to  apply.     The  I.   C.   S.  system  is  a  logical  chain;  to 

0j        „       0j  remember   one   link   is   to   remember   the 

3tep  by  Step         ,.       ,    . 

.,        I  entire  chain. 

mM       .  There  are  two  I.  C.  S.  Courses  in  Poultry 

Mastery      „       .  , 

farming,  namely: 

Poultry  Farming  Course. 

Poultry  for  Exhibition  Course. 

The  Poultry  Farming  Course  teaches  the  student  every- 
thing from  the  construction  of  a  $4  poultry  house  to  the  suc- 
cessful development  and  handling  of  a  poultry  farm  of 
20,000  chickens.  The  knowledge  gained  in  the  establishment 
of  the  Rancocas  Poultry  Farm — the  marvelous  MILLION 
EGG  FARM — has  been  woven  into  the  Poultry  Farming 
Course  and  is  presented  there  according  to  the  easy  to  learn, 
remember,  and  apply  system  of  the  I.  C.  S. 

The  Poultry  for  Exhibition  Course,  written  by  an  expert 
with  forty  years  experience  back  of  him,  gives  to  the  student 
a  full  knowledge  of  how  to  produce  and  reproduce  every  kind 
and  character  of  standard  and  exhibition  fowl.  The  Course 
includes  full  instruction  on :  The  Origin  of  Poultry ;  Improve- 
ment  of   Poultry;   Selecting   and   Mating   for   Best   Results; 


144 


THE       MILLION       EGG        FARM 


Selecting  and  Preparing  for  Show  Rooms ;  and  How  to  Judge. 
Finely  colored  illustrations  prepared  from  actual  sketches 
from  life  of  the  finest  specimens  of  the  different  breeds  of  fowl 
in  the  United  States  and  Canada  are  used  to  illustrate  the 
text. 

It  will  cost  you  nothing  but  postage  to  get  full  particulars 
about  the  I.  C.  S.  plan  for  making  a  practical  and  successful 
poultry  farmer  or  breeder  of  you.  Send  a  note  or  a  postal 
card  to  the  International  Correspondence  Schools,  Box  1079, 
Scranton,  Pa.,  asking  for  information.  Doing  this  will  place 
you  under  absolutely  no  obligation  and  will  bring  to  you  a 
detailed  description  of  the  I.  C.  S.  Courses  and  the  system 
followed  to  compel  success. 


President 


145 


146 


01  Over  Two  Hundred  and  Fifty 

The  One 


This  is 


The  great  business  carried  on  at 
Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  requires 
that  we  have  the  very  best  incuba- 
tors to  be  had.  We  keep  250  incu- 
bators going.  They  have  a  hatch- 
ing capacity  of  100,800  eggs.  We 
can't  afford  to  waste  eggs. 

The  Hen's  Only  Competitor 

The  100  incubators  that  we  used  during  the  last  year  included  the  leading 
makes,  the  best  we  could  buy.  But  they  fell  far  short  of  the  one  here  shown — 
the  incubator  we  have  built  ourselves,  the  one  that  grew  out  of  our  experience, 
the  hen's  only  competitor,  the 

International  Self-Humidifying  Incubator 


We  have  tested  and  proven  it  by  the  best 
of  other  incubators.  Its  hatches  are  bet- 
ter than  others  because  it  gives  effect  to  a 
vital  principle  in  hatching.  It  supplies 
moisture  in  a  systematic  way.  The  fresh, 
live  air  on  its  way  to  the  egg  chamber 
passes  over  the  sheet  of  warmed  water 
shown  in  the  picture.  Water  evaporates 
tosupply  the  air  with  much  orlittle  moist- 
ure as  required,  and  according  to  the  cli- 
mate.    Cut  off  entirely  if  desired. 

Bigger  hatches  of  stronger  chicks  are 
the  proof  of  superiority.  Ours  is  the  best 
test  in  the  world,  fair  and  square,  con- 
tinued eight  months— the  International 
against  over  ioo  machines. 


Let  us  send  you  proofs  of  the  Interna- 
tional superiority — the  all-around  winner. 
A  better  heating  system — heater  and  mois- 
ture pan  galvanized  iron — moisture  pan 
kept  warm  —  no  sprinkling  —  no  heat  or 
fumes  direct  from  lamp  can  enter  the  egg 
chamber — life  and  moisture  cannot  be 
cooked  out  of  air.  We  make  it  in  four 
sizes,  ioo,  200,  300,  400-egg  capacity,  good 
measure,  and  it  is  the  one  incubator  which 
meets  absolutely  all  requirements  of  insur- 
ance companies.  It  is  built  of  oakthrough- 
out,  is  fire-proof — not  merely  adjusted  to 
meet  underwriter's  demands.  And  note 
this  :  You  get  the  International  at  left  less 
than  standard  incubator  prices.  Our  1911 
catalogexplains  every  thing.Writefor  copy. 


You  Need 


the  Co-operation 
Poultry  Farm 


oi    Rancocas 


We  make  a  specialty  of  Fine  Breeding  Stock,  of  Fertile  Hatching  Eggs  and  of 
Baby  Chix.  We  are  supplying  thousands  of  poultry-raising  customers.  Get 
in    touch    with    us.        We    are     glad     to     receive     inquiries    about    anything. 


Baby  Chix 

We  will  do  your  hatching  for  you,  take 
all  the  chances,  save  you  all  egg  loss  and 
risk.  We  can  supply  you  with  lively,  strong, 
newly-hatched  chicks  that  are  sure  to  grow 
and  thrive.  Prices  low  for  fine  chicks,  ex- 
A  few  or  as  many 


Want  Hatching  Eggs? 

Try  the  great  Rancocas  Leghorn  strain. 
90%  Fertility  Guaranteed.  No  need  to  lose  by 
having  a  lot  of  eggs  prove  infertile.  We 
neither  sell  nor  hatch  from  eggs  laid  by 
pullets — only  from  vigorous,  mature  hens. 

Send  your  order  and  get    eggs   that  will    cellent  Leghorn  stock 
give  you  higher  class  utility  stock.  as  you  want — write  us 

Breeding  Stock  The  Laying  Instinct 

While  our  birds  are  really  fancy  they  are  Rancocas  S.  C.  White  Leghorns  are  the 
actually  bred  for  egg-getting.  Hundreds  greatest  laying  strain  in  the  world.  It  took 
of  birds  are  constantly  maturing  and  de-    H™?/  generations  of  breeding  to  develop 

.     ■...--.        j  „.  .it.  It  will  be  a  great  thing  for  vour  flock  to 

veloping  into  fine  breeders.  We  can  supply  get  Rancocas  ltying  instinct  into  it.  Get 
you  with  the  money-making  kind  at  right  it  either  through  our  Breeders  Hatching 
prices.     Tell  us  your  needs.  Eggs  or  Baby  Chix. 

Rancocas  Poultry  Farm  is  the  greatest  egg  producing  concern  in  the  world— two  million  eggs  a  year, 
about  500  dozen  a  day.     Our  doings  ought  to  be  of  interest  to  you.     Come  and  see  us,  or  write  to  us. 

International  Poultry  Sales  Co.,  J.  M.  Foster.  President.  Box  400,  Browns-Mills-in-the-Pines,  N.  J. 


147 


How  We  Mother  Little  Chicks 
»_    H  a*  Rancocas  Farm 

Here  is  pictured  the  new  sanitary  hover  which 
has  proven  such  a  success  in  our  yards.  It  takes 
the  place  of  the  hen.  Built  entirely  of  strong 
metal,  absolutely  fire-proof,  easily  lasts  20  years, 
llmpossible  for  lamp  to  blow  out  even  in  storm  of 
rain,  wind  or  snow.  Gradual  slope  of  drum  down- 
ward over  chicks'  backs  from  upper,  outer  rim 
toward  center.  All  heat  and  lamp  fumes  enclosed 
in  drum  above  chicks.  Heat  by  radiation  from 
above.  No  crowding,  a  great  feature.  Chicks  do 
not  pile  up  in  center  but  gather  under  outer  edge, 
under  and  near  hover  cloth  where  heat  is  greatest.  Vermin  proof.  Fresh,  pure 
air,  steady,  mild  heat,  freedom  from  dirt,  drafts  and  lice — all  this  is  accom- 
plished by  using  the 

International  Sanitary  Hover 

Read  what  these  leading  poultrymen  say : 

MEADOW  VIEW  STOCK  FARM 

Hyde,  Md.,  September  15th,  1910 
International  Poultry  Sales  Co.,  Brown's  Mills,  N.  J. 
Gentlemen  :— 

I  wish  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  favor  of  August  27th,  asking  as  to  the  success  I  have  had 
with  the  "International  Sanitary  Hover."  I  can  unhesitatingly  recommend  your  Hover  as  being  the 
best  on  the  market.  I  have  used  many  others,  but  have  discarded  them  for  yours.  My  birds  this 
year  are  stronger  than  any  other  year  and  my^success  I  attribute  to  the  use  of  your  Hover.  I  find  it 
not  only  more  economical  than  others  in  he  consumption  of  oil,  but  I  find  it  more  sanitary,  as  all 
parts  can  be  cleaned  readily  and  with  ease.  The  Hover  is  made  strong,  and  should  last,  with  ordinary 
care,  a  lifetime.  The  operation  of  your  Hover  is  simpler  than  any  other  I  have  ever  operated  and, 
as  previously  stated,  it  is  the  best  on  the  market  and  I  wish  you  continued  success  with  same. 

Yours  very  truly,  Edward  T.  Boswell. 

September  6th,  1910 
J.  M.  Foster,  Pres.,  Int.  Poultry  Sales  Co.,  Brown's  Mills,  N.  J. 
Dear  Sir: — 

May  1st  last,  I  purchased  of  your  Company  twenty-five  International  Sanitary 
Hovers  under  which  were  hovered  two  thousand  five  hundred  chix.  At  the 
age  of  six  weeks  our  loss  was  about  five  per  cent,  which  loss  I  consider  very 
light,  when  you  take  in  view  our  inexperience  in  raising  chix.  The  fact  that  your 
Hovers  are  not  flammable  I  consider  a  very  strong  point  in  their  favor.  This 
is  more  strongly  impressed  upon  me  from  the  fact  that  one  of  a  number  of 
Hovers  used  by  a  neighbor,  of  different  manufacture,  caught  fire  from  the  lamp 
and  had  not  this  fire  been  discovered  promptly  the  loss  would  have  been  serious. 
I  take  pleasure  in  saying  that  we  have  found  your  Hover  satisfactory  in  every 
particular.    Yours  truly,  W.  G.  Liddle.    Mount  Holly,  N.  J.    R.  F.  D.  No.  2. 

Winners  at  Madison  Square  Garden,  New  York,  Boston,  Syracuse,  N.Y.,  Auburn, 

N.  Y.,  Jamestown,  Va.,  Chicago,  111.,   Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and  Memphis,  Tenn. 

PINE  TOP  POULTRY  FARM 

J.  H.  Hallock,  Proprietor'  Hartwood,  Sullivan  Co.,  New  York 

Breeders  and  Exhibitors  of  Barred  Plymouth  Rocks,  and  Single  Comb  White 

Leghorns,  Day  Old  Chicks,  Eggs  for  Hatching,  Exhibition  and  Utility 

Males  and  Females  for  sale  at  all  times. 

September  22,  1910 
International  Poultry  Sales  Co.,  19  Barclay  St.,  New  York  City. 

Gentlemen:— I  thought  you  might  be  interested  in  the  successful 
way  in  which  the  brooder  acted,  that  you  forwarded  to  me  to  be  tested. 
I  would  say  that  we  had  a  late  hatch  in  August,  of  fifty-two  chicks, 
and  it  is  with  pleasure  that  I  state  that  at  the  present  writing  we  have 
the  same  number  living.  As  soon  as  we  complete  the  building  opera- 
tions that  we  are  undergoing,  I  will  place  an  order  with  you  for  a  num- 
ber of  these  brooders.  Very  truly  yours, 
J.  H.  H.  J.  H.  Hallock. 

You  will  be  interested  in  knowing  all  about  this  wonder- 
ful hover— what  it  is,  what  it  does  and  how  it  solves  the 
problem  of  raising  chicks.  Visit  us  and  see  for  yourself  if 
you  can.  We  make  visitors  welcome  at  Rancocas  Farm. 
If   you    can't    visit    us,    you    can    read    about    our    doings. 

You  get  the  story  in  full  in  our  new  catalogue.     Write  for  a  free  copy. 

INTERNATIONAL  POULTRY  SALES  CO.. 
J.  M.  Foster,  President.  Box  400.         Brown's  Mills-in-the-Plnes,  N.  J. 


Easy  to  remove  the 
lamp  without  disturbing 

chicks  underneath. 
Just  litt  out— that's  all. 


148 


